Amy2
05-18-2001, 01:29 PM
Seattle has quite a homeless problem, like so many cities. Here, the business people don't want the homeless people hanging out in front of their businesses, and the police come around and shoo them away. But then they move somewhere else, and they're shoo'd away there too.
So they've set up these "Tent Cities" where the homeless people set up camps with porta potties and makeshift kitchens. They stay there six and a half weeks then move somewhere else.
Well, thinking about the thread of our "overindulged" children, I decided to use this nearby tent city to teach Tristan something about what we (as a family) have. (The tent city is set up in a church lot about a mile from our house.) We (ds and I) made cookies and brought them to the church. I tried to explain to him how these tents were their houses, and they didn't have any money, blah, blah, blah. We went up and I asked if there was anything in particular they needed. The guy said they could really use some coffee, so we went to the store and bought some coffee. (Here is where I show my affluence in comparison, I actually (stupidly) asked if they wanted "ground coffee" Hello?! then when I went to the store, I ground two bags of coffee. I realized later that I probably could have bought several CANS of coffee for what I paid for those bags!)
When we took the coffee back, one of the men was drinking a little juice bag thing. Tristan said "That sure loooks good!" and the guy gave him one. I was telling him about how generous that was, how they have so little and yet they shared what they have with him....
Anyway. I don't know if Tristan "got it" at all. We got home, and he showed his dad the juice, and said "the poor people gave it to me!" Hmmmmm
I hate having to teach my children that there is suffering in the world, because I hate that there IS suffering in the world. I guess all you can do is expose your kids to the world around them, and hope they learn compassion.
Amy
So they've set up these "Tent Cities" where the homeless people set up camps with porta potties and makeshift kitchens. They stay there six and a half weeks then move somewhere else.
Well, thinking about the thread of our "overindulged" children, I decided to use this nearby tent city to teach Tristan something about what we (as a family) have. (The tent city is set up in a church lot about a mile from our house.) We (ds and I) made cookies and brought them to the church. I tried to explain to him how these tents were their houses, and they didn't have any money, blah, blah, blah. We went up and I asked if there was anything in particular they needed. The guy said they could really use some coffee, so we went to the store and bought some coffee. (Here is where I show my affluence in comparison, I actually (stupidly) asked if they wanted "ground coffee" Hello?! then when I went to the store, I ground two bags of coffee. I realized later that I probably could have bought several CANS of coffee for what I paid for those bags!)
When we took the coffee back, one of the men was drinking a little juice bag thing. Tristan said "That sure loooks good!" and the guy gave him one. I was telling him about how generous that was, how they have so little and yet they shared what they have with him....
Anyway. I don't know if Tristan "got it" at all. We got home, and he showed his dad the juice, and said "the poor people gave it to me!" Hmmmmm
I hate having to teach my children that there is suffering in the world, because I hate that there IS suffering in the world. I guess all you can do is expose your kids to the world around them, and hope they learn compassion.
Amy