One Cold Fish
Posted on November 19, 2007 - Filed Under Philosophy |
"Good evening sir, I’m not here to rob you!"
A knock at the door interrupted my Friday evening. Tired, cranky, in need of some serious rest I begrudgingly opened the door to my inner sanctum. Two large smiles greeted me, one from a woman and the other a man.
"Sir, you certainly don’t want inner city kids to wind up dead or on the streets as prostitutes, do you?"
Their modus operandi was nothing new. Guilt victims into buying magazine subscriptions. In return, the sellers get points. Their target, some astronomical number, allows them to fly to Europe, buy flat screen televisions, or some other doodad. Oh yeah and something about helping "inner city kids".
At some point, I would like to believe the companies for these magazines donate money to causes but I’m skeptical. Four times I have been exposed to this program. To date: I have yet to receive a single magazine.
"I do appreciate your efforts however I’m just not interested."
My rejection caused a debate to break out on my front porch. Rather than gracefully let the incident slide the two "point people" decided to goad me into a conflict. I already donate to several causes: that was my shield. My tired, cranky and now annoyed tongue became my sword.
"Sir, let me ask you a question. If your friend fell into a pool and was drowning, would you help him?"
"Of course."
"And if he fell in again, would you help him?"
"No I would not."
"No?"
"I believe everyone needs a second chance. If my friend required my help, I would definitely help him. But if he was dumb enough to fall in again, then he needs to learn how to swim."
"I see I’m wasting my breath." With that, they turned and left. No good-byes. No "thank you for your time". Not even a "good night".
"Have a good evening!" I said.
‘Tis the season.
If you liked that post, then try these...
Understanding other people on October 3rd, 2007
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Working in series versus in parallel on October 2nd, 2007
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