Think of Others on Thanksgiving Please

The Wall Street Greek team wishes you and yours a happy Thanksgiving. In these very difficult times, it can seem like we have little to be thankful for, if anything at all.

Allow me to share a personal testimony and maybe help you through a rough patch. When I attended college, at Temple University in North Philadelphia, I use to drive through my mother's old neighborhood adjacent to the school. It warmed me to see the old J&L Luncheonette sign still hanging there decades later, and it prepared a kinship for me with the very poor people who live there now. It was something I did when I was down and depressed to remind myself that my own struggles weren't so bad. It was something I did to humble myself, so as to not feel sorry for my second hand jeans, which were full of holes, that I pretended to wear for the style. It allowed me to not think about the thousands of dollars in student loans I was building. It kept me from worrying about my father's business and my family's future, as he lay immobilized by back injury. It distracted me from my exhaustion after 16 hour study days filled with library time in between classes. It kept me from crying as I passed other students in the halls.

I grew up poor, but I didn't realize it. My father did a good job of filling the refrigerator and our stomachs, though we complained about empty or even absent Christmas trees. You can be happy without material wealth, if you remember what's really important in life. It's love, family and friendships; it's faith, compassion for others and continual effort.

So, if you lost your job this year and you feel bad, don't bury yourself in alcohol. If your marriage is on the rocks because of hard times, don't give up on it. If a loved one has passed on or someone is in ill health, don't let it kill your spirit. Make the most of the rediscovery of your heart. Instead of worrying about your own struggles, give comfort to those you love and even think of those less fortunate.

Why don't you do something. Why don't you give. Please see the videos here, each and every one of them. Show them to your children. Take something valuable with you from this Thanksgiving.

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I use to spend more money riding the subway home than I would taking a cab, because of all the open hands I would pass on my way. Even so, I never felt like I was helping enough. I appeased myself, like many of us do, by thinking "some day when I reach my goals and get some money, I'll really help these people." Jobless and poor (yes poor) I passed a soup kitchen one day on my way home from church. A thought came to mind... why not now? Why couldn't I help people now, instead of when I get rich? What's stopping me or you?

So I went one day, and I volunteered. Let me tell you. It's a lot harder to actually do than it is to say you will do. Try it and see. I found myself, a grown man, nervous. I found myself, an old Wall Street big shot, now the servant of the meekest of men. I actually trembled from my nervousness, though nobody noticed. I even spilled some soup on a hungry man. Imagine your only pair of pants stained. He was upset, and I tried to console him by telling him, "now you have some for later." It was of course meant to take his mind from that concern and maybe bring a smile to his face, but it was also the sad truth, which is not so funny. Not the first time I put my foot in my mouth, nor will it be the last.

Many of us don't give because we create justifications in our minds why these folks don't deserve help. We say, "he's a drunk. he'll just buy a bottle of booze with my hard earned money." We say, "he's young. he can work. he can get a job." We say, "he's sick and dirty. I might catch some disease from him." We say, "I don't have enough for myself." Worst of all, we say "I gave that other guy last week a dollar, or I gave at the office." That does the man before you little good, and his needs are at issue. These justifications are judgments on our part, and as you know, we should not judge, lest we be judged.

A man once approached me outside 30th street station in Philadelphia as I caught a train back to New York. He said, "I came from Pittsburgh for a job interview and I don't have enough money to go home. Can I have $20 please." I'm not stupid. I know the odds of that story being truth are very low, but that's not my judgement to make. I gave him $20, but I warned him of the penalty he would bear if that story were a lie. Whether you believe in God or karma, you realize there are penalties for our actions.

I once saw a man in the middle of winter walking up Park Avenue, at around 26th street Manhattan. It was 20 degrees Fahrenheit. He was homeless, pulling something but wearing only a blanket around the bottom half of his body. As I hope you would also do, without thinking, I put down my coffee, took off my sweater from my own back (my favorite sweater), and standing there in a cafe half naked, put back on the second sweater I had worn over it and rushed outside and gave the man the shirt from my back. That man took it, lifted up the cover of his wheeled home and goods, and placed the sweater in it and continued to walk up the street half naked.

What lesson do you take from this? Do you think he fooled me. Am I a fool? He clearly was half naked in order to gain sympathy; it was after all freezing. It was a brilliant plan he was pulling off. Still, we cannot judge him. I was initially angered, but not for long. We can never know what he has in his pull cart, who it's for, or how he lives and what he needs. If it takes such dramatic ploy to gain him clothing to wear, then what does that say about the generosity of mankind, or lack of it. We have to give, because we cannot discern truth from lie, nor the purpose of lies which are often designed to confuse truth and incriminate the innocent.

I've come across plenty of reasons not to help people, including my own limited resources. I once gave a man 50 cents while I was a month behind in my rent. He then said, "I only need another 50 to get a beer." I even encountered a millionaire in a soup kitchen. Should I have decided that all "clients" are millionaires? The source driver of these anomalies is to fool givers of heart out of giving. Don't be fooled. Give, and ignore these tricks and traps of the devil to stop you from giving.

Does your neighborhood feed the homeless? If not, why not consider organizing a soup kitchen, and perhaps a network of kitchens to allow these people to find meals each day. I want you to know that the reward gained is a spiritual one, and an undeniable one at that. You will never feel more happy than you do when you are providing life essential necessities to others. Their sincere appreciation is a beautiful gift, one we should view undeserved (for us). It's our duty, not something for praise. I'm not seeking praise from you in writing these words. In fact, I'm embarrassed. But I have hope.

I hope my personal testimony leads to intraspection, but I'm no better than you. Just last week I reacted poorly to someone, and am responsible for my own faults. I'm simply seeking to make you think, perhaps inspire you to give. At least, to forget your own troubles in these hard times and remember that guy sleeping on the sidewalk on this frigid night. By the way, there's a picture of him atop this article in case you missed it. He was cold, starving, hurt, unloved and alone...for our sake. Now you have one more reason to ignore the suffering, since these words were written by a "Jesus freak." However, that image was not meant to depict Jesus here. It was meant to depict God.

Happy Thanksgiving to each of you, whether you have a computer to read it or not. Be warm, be dry, be well-fed and be loved.

(Article interests: AMEX: DIA, AMEX: SPY, Nasdaq: QQQQ, NYSE: NYX, AMEX: DOG, AMEX: SDS, AMEX: QLD, AMEX: XLF, AMEX: IWM, AMEX: TWM, AMEX: IWD, AMEX: SDK, NYSE: GOD)

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