How Often do You Stop to Say Hello?

I passed a homeless man while walking through Canby not too long ago. As it usually does with me, it hurt to see him laying on the park bench like that.

I don't understand those people that feel revulsion, disgust, apathy, scorn, even hate, for these people.

I always feel sadness, pity, empathy. Who am I, or anyone else for that matter, to judge these people? What puts us so much higher than they are? Only our own misguided, self-serving, self-righteous egos, that's what.

Alot of my girlfriends over the years have failed to understand this. Often I have annoyed one of them when, while leaving a store, or driving down the road, I would stop and make it a point to give them a couple of bucks. One girlfriend in particular, whose name started with a K, loathed this fact. But then again, she hated everyone it seemed. Always had a negative attitude. Who knows. Maybe she has improved that aspect of her character. If so, good for her.

On the other end of the spectrum were those girlfriends that not only understood my need to do this, but also encouraged it as well. Her name started with a D. Pretty much the exact opposite of "K". Which is a good thing.

Many that know me don't seem to understand what is apparently a dichotomy of interest concerning my character. I am usually known as the guy who can't stand people, am disgusted with humanity in general, and have a self-serving ego that could rival that of Napoleon himself.

But, as any student of psychology will tell you, most of that is just a defense mechanism. A spike-studded, barbed-wire laced stone edifice created to protect my emotions from those of others. The "defense mechanism" so often cited in society.

My current girlfriend, Neddie, feels as I do on this subject, though, which is awesome. She too empathizes with these people, and I love her all the more for it.

There's a common perception that beggars use handouts for drugs and booze. But beggars aren't all substance abusers. In a seminal 2001 U.K. survey, 45 percent cited food as their main purchase; 37 percent said drugs.

Many people it seems don't know how to react to a lonely, out-stretched hand. Sometimes I give. Sometimes I don't. But my philosophy is that I always say hello.