Frame of Mind
acoloma@theguidon.com

To see beggars asking for money or some food to eat is something that is very familiar to all of us. Whether it be commuting to school or riding a car, you are bound to see someone begging on the corner of the street or knocking on your car window. More often than not, we just pass and ignore them without showing any sign of kindness, because a lot of us question the sincerity of these beggars or are skeptical about their intentions.

We have become so used to seeing and encountering them in the streets that we have become numb to their pleas for alms. We see them begging, we look at them and we feel some form of sadness—yet we only end up walking past them without even thinking of looking back.

A few weeks ago, I was walking with a friend to the Katipunan LRT Station. On the way there, we came across an old lady sitting on the street asking for some money. We both have seen her there many times before and as embarrassing as it is to admit, we would always just pass her without even giving anything. That day, however, we were both caught off guard when a man, who did not look like he was well off, made the effort to take out his small coin purse and give the old lady some money.

With the little that he had, he was still able to give. My friend and I were caught frozen with guilt and we looked at each other with embarrassed eyes, especially after seeing what the man did. If he could give something, then why couldn’t we?

It is always too easy to say that we care for the poor or that we feel sympathy for them, but when we are given opportunities to help them, we do not. It is easy to say that we see them, but we must ask ourselves, “Do we really take our time to see through them?”

I believe that it is not a matter of money but of convenience when we do not give. Perhaps we find it easier that we just ignore it and not deal with the feelings that come with interacting with the poor.

We always want the easy way out of life. In this case, we try to avoid having to deal with recognizing that these beggars are people too, just like us. We dismiss the reality that they are there because once you start feeling pity and start helping one out, you will have to continue and be the same with the rest you will encounter. The thought of this scares us because then, we would feel the need to be responsible for not only ourselves but also for other people. It would be easy to think that after all the lessons we have been taught about helping the poor and the marginalized, we would all be proactive in helping them. Reality shows us, however, that this is still not the case.

As Ateneans, we have always been taught the value of being men for others. We pride ourselves in having theology and philosophy classes but despite this, we still fail to go down the hill… where we are needed the most.

The challenge is to stop thinking about what would be easy and convenient for us and to think about others, too. For once, we have to stop skimming the surface and start acting to help the country, by starting with our daily encounters with those in need.