tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post8300525190033807403..comments2023-12-17T18:02:23.070-05:00Comments on ~Upstream and Down~: The ants go marching~Ruth L.~http://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-80315347425029809952008-11-10T10:12:00.000-05:002008-11-10T10:12:00.000-05:00This is great info to know.This is great info to know.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-4613577986454208622008-01-22T22:02:00.000-05:002008-01-22T22:02:00.000-05:00Ruth, you know, it amazes me that in such a wealth...Ruth, you know, it amazes me that in such a wealthy country as the United States, and in Canada too, there is such abject poverty. It doesn't make any sense to me. Both of these countries have such huge wealth. Why do they let their own citizens - human beings - suffer so badly. And it's not just the grown ups, but childen too.<BR/><BR/>We had a case recently of a newborn baby, born to a homeless couple, and when it was released from the hospital, that newborn baby was homeless. It was taken by the ministry for children, but no one helped its parents. So now this poor homeless couple of separated from its baby, and they have no home. Just pile more suffering onto the suffering.<BR/><BR/>How did this happen?Johttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06979114933441527890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-1844238761440240612008-01-22T20:04:00.000-05:002008-01-22T20:04:00.000-05:00Bottom line . . . no matter how we feel, or what w...Bottom line . . . no matter how we feel, or what we do, or don't do, there are some hurtin' people out there.Ruth L.~https://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-24218377860704339772008-01-22T19:53:00.000-05:002008-01-22T19:53:00.000-05:00I know that awful sensation well. I give money to ...I know that awful sensation well. I give money to people on the street sometimes. Then I come to the person a block away, who also seems desperate, and I have to just pass by. It just kills me. I wonder when I move to the city if I'll become numb to it? I don't know . . . I hope not. :(<BR/><BR/>I love that picture of your kitty, by the way.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12131161905010968838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-60113872283648586952008-01-21T23:17:00.000-05:002008-01-21T23:17:00.000-05:00I can so identify with this. I feel that awful he...I can so identify with this. I feel that awful helpless feeling every time I pass a corner where someone is asking for money. I don't give them money, but my heart aches for their pain. They usually have that vacant stare that bespeaks hopelessness.Barbarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18356998698106275372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-68117360151640089002008-01-21T08:52:00.000-05:002008-01-21T08:52:00.000-05:00It would suck to need two new knees and know that ...It would suck to need two new knees and know that every dime you collected had to go toward feeding your head. I give change, if I have it. I know it doesn't help, but it probably doesn't make it any worse either.Tim Elhajjhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10922473861070870882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-7680566774393670882008-01-20T23:56:00.000-05:002008-01-20T23:56:00.000-05:00Oh how you struck a cord in my heart Ruth. I shar...Oh how you struck a cord in my heart Ruth. I share such similar feelings. We do what we can through our church with the Missions and the Homeless...but it's never enough.<BR/><BR/>Since we are moving, I told my husband...all those jackets you don't need...lets give them to the homeless or the mission. How many jackets does one man need. We accumulate so much without giving it a thought.<BR/>Thank you Ruth for your sensitive and gentle spirit.Wandahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06941735389982354519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-48067991063129597112008-01-20T19:05:00.000-05:002008-01-20T19:05:00.000-05:00Oh, God. This is such a hard one. And I agree that...Oh, God. This is such a hard one. And I agree that the "ants crawling" is a great analogy, it's just that I probably fall on Bruce's side of the equation more often than not. Maybe it's all those years in the ER; maybe it's all the years here watching people at stoplights show off some made up "disability."<BR/><BR/>Once on a visit here my then thirty-year-old daughter-- who has spent a good amount of time in Latin America-- commented on a person who approached our pickup using two crutches with the spastic gait of someone with the most severe case of cerebral palsy imaginable. Meraiah said mater of factly, "I think I could do that." <BR/><BR/>Crass but true. There is a whole group of people who live in very nice houses here in San José who work the traffic lights every day from 9-5. <BR/><BR/>I have gotten to the point where I actually need to see amputated limbs before I reach for the change on the dash. No, I take that back. I ALWAYS give to old ladies who appear down and out. Who knows, it could be me but for a flick of luck. They made the hair on the back of my neck stand up!sarah corbett morganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06327514344421041651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-78802327375570651792008-01-20T15:02:00.000-05:002008-01-20T15:02:00.000-05:00You are astute, Eileen, in your comments here. We ...You are astute, Eileen, in your comments here. We all have our approaches to dealing with hurt. I'll come see what you wrote.Ruth L.~https://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-56134613409546707372008-01-20T14:39:00.000-05:002008-01-20T14:39:00.000-05:00What I like about what you wrote is that it acknow...What I like about what you wrote is that it acknowleges being stuck with caring and not burying your response because you are helpless to fix it. The trouble with Bruce's response, to me , is that it fixes the hurt by diminishing it.Ants crawling is a vivid image of disquiet.I guess to love it all you have to take it all in, but being helpless in the face of suffering is pretty painful. Thanks . With Pauline's help I posted a new piece that your writing helped me to think about.Eileenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02510521133934884473noreply@blogger.com