Now the holiday season is over, we can comment on the radical change in the spirit of gift-giving, especially while being stopped in traffic – without the guilt of a Scrooge. You must have noticed how motorists have become "captive" sources of charity as soon as December comes around. Since it is the season to share our blessings with those who have less, we encourage this practice by easily giving a few pesos or goodies to street children. In fact, this practice has even pushed its way into becoming part of the Christmas tradition that many of us prepare some candies or cookies to be given to street kids.
Little by little, almost unnoticed, the children who sing by our vehicles’ windows have become more aggressive. Emboldened by tradition, they not only sing a line from a Christmas carol, some of them even ask – no, even demand – what you should give them. Perhaps I am just at the wrong intersection at the wrong time. I encountered a kid who asked – "Kahit limang piso lang po!" Another kid peered closely into the tinted window to ask for some food that was inside the car. A very short kid, climbed on my stepping board and holding on the the door handle, continuously knocked on my window, refusing to step down even when the light turned green.
When I gave something, did I practice sharing, or did I surrender to harassment?
That kind of aggressiveness to demand that your neighbor shares is not only practiced by street kids. I may be old-fashioned (my parents taught us that it was bad manners to ask for gifts), but I am uneasy about the way envelopes wishing me a "Merry Christmas" appeared in my house. They came from people I don’t even know – the newspaper boy, bill collectors of phone companies, water company, garbage collectors, barangay tanods, messengers of companies, and a few others whose function I still have to determine. (Of them, only the garbage collectors and barangay tanods truly deserved generous gifts!)
What was upsetting was not the number of people asking me to share my blessings – it was the people who came back many times to follow up if the envelopes have been filled. In the end, I succumbed to giving something. Was my act a form of charity or a contribution to the spirit of persistence? A form of sharing or surrender?
|
