Empathy has always prompted me to do what I can to help, given the resources available to me.
Large metropolises in the US tend to have a fair share of homeless people. On the other side of the world, Beijing is no exception. As I had witnessed during my stay there, they pepper the city’s public areas. After weeks of exploring the city, I identified common areas in which they were residing. Beggars often walked through subway cars, nested in underground pedestrian walkways, and laid on sidewalks. I’m no philanthropist, nor do I have the resources to help a statistically significant number of people, but empathy has always prompted me to do what I can to help them, given the resources available to me.
My program director at Peking University once said that, to my dismay, good Samaritans are rare in Beijing due to a large distrust in others. He revealed that a witness to a hit and run drove the injured victim to the hospital, only to be blamed as the perpetrator by the victim to help pay for the medical expenses. Exploitations similar to this incident have propelled the masses to primarily care for themselves.
After my suitemate moved out of his room, he left behind an abundance of goods. When the custodians came in to clean up after him, I was informed that all the abandoned items were to be disposed of. I requested they be left in our living room; although discouraged from my director’s story, I still wanted to make a contribution to the people in need.
I packed what I felt would be useful in a drawstring bag and brought it out with me for the day. When passing by a homeless person, I asked if they would benefit from any of the items I was carrying. With every transaction, I sensed that what I was doing was strange — several people stared and commented as they walked by. Nevertheless, I shrugged off the attention and donated goods on two more occasions. To date, I gave away two pairs of jeans, two scarves, five shirts, two towels, a pair of shower sandals, three pairs of shoes, and an umbrella.
My utopia involves everyone having at least the first two Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs fulfilled. Last year, I struggled to keep that naïve ideal alive and shared my pessimism with the most influential figure in my life. He said that doing good for a large amount of people is very desirable but almost impossible. Better yet, set a personal example for those around you and have them continue on with the gestures. I’m hoping that, amongst the pairs of eyes staring at me from those three days, I’ve modified some of their ideals – one which involves a stronger sense of community and selflessness.
