The Ungrateful

A belated Happy Mother's Day to you all of you Maritime Mums out there. Keep raising those little pirates! It's the best thing my mother ever did for me. ARGGGGGGGG to you Mum!

Now on to business...

I had to attend a meeting on Friday afternoon, and to celebrate the week's end, my officemate and I met my sister-in-law (another pirate lady) for a drink at a quaint little martini joint called Cosmo's on West 54th Street. My officemate soon had to leave for another engagement, and my sister-in-law and I headed out to our respective rides home.

As I headed into New York Penn Station, I checked the board and saw that I was just in time for the next train out to "down the shore". I went to one of the ticket machines, as it's increasingly difficult to find an actual working human body in that place, and I was waiting for my debit transaction to be processed. Note: I had no known cash on me. A man came up to me and asked if I had any spare money. As I knew I had spent my last physical dollar, I turned and said, "Sorry, I don't have any." He grunted, turned away and proceeded to ask other people who were standing around waiting for the next train.

Meanwhile, the ticket machine was taking an eternity, and I decided to check my pockets just in case I had a spare dollar or some change that I had forgotten about. I dug into one pocket and found a few cents. It wasn't much, but since I was out of cash, what good would it do me when I could give it to the man who had asked me for some change a few minutes ago? I grabbed my ticket, looked around, spotted the man and proceeded to head over to him. I said,"It turns out I do have some spare change. It's not much, but it's all I have." (Note the phrase "It's all I have.") I gave him the change, he grunted again, turned and walked away. Needless to say, I felt hurt at his reaction or should I say lack of reaction.

I'm not homeless, and I know that many people out there have a far worse life than most of society gives them credit for. I can't always give money to the homeless, but I do what I can when I can, and I do feel genuinely sorry for them. Things happen in people's lives that they can't control, and sometimes it's hard to recover. Sometimes you never recover. Sometimes you go with what God has given you, and you make the best of it. This brings me to Austin.

Austin is another homeless man who frequents Penn Station. I met him for the first time during the Christmas season as I was, yes, getting my train ticket home from one of the machines (actually, it was very same machine). I seemed to be the only one around, and he came up to me and started a conversation. He asked where I was going, I said "Long Branch", and he replied, "268" (the station code you put in the machine when it asks for your destination). He said he knew every station code for every stop on the NJ Transit rail service, and I replied that was amazing. He said he's "been coming to Penn Station for years." I smiled. I got my ticket, turned to him, gave him a few dollars and wished him a Merry Christmas. He replied, "My name is Austin. You'll be in my prayers." I smiled again and headed out into the station.

Here's the difference between the "grateful" and the "ungrateful". Austin never asked me for money. He never even hinted that he needed it, but I knew he did. It was cold, and he could use the few dollars for some food or a couple cups of coffee. It didn't matter. I was glad I gave it to him, and I knew he was genuinely grateful for it. I see Austin at Penn Station every once in a while. He may not remember me, but he certainly made an impression, and I will probably never forget him.

The other man I spoke about couldn't have cared less that what I gave him was literally all I had. Maybe he thought I was lying. Maybe he thought I was being facetious because I only had a few cents to give him (it's not like it was just a couple of pennies, though). I can't tell you what was going through his head, but as I left, I felt bad about giving him the money because he seemed so ungrateful. Everyone else he asked either ignored him or denied him, and I had the courtesy and the decency to give him "all I had". He walked away with more money than I did because then I didn't have penny to my name. I could have given that change instead to someone who would have been very grateful to receive what could be given, no matter how much or how little that was.

I'm still going to give what I can to help the homeless and those around me. I know that they are suffering, and I need to give what I can to help others. It's my God given duty. It may be a sin for me to talk about my donations to the poor ("do not let the left hand know what the right hand is doing" kind of thing), but it's also a sin to simply take and not be grateful. I thank God everyday for all that I have, again, no matter how much or how little that is. Some days I have money, other days I don't. Some days I can buy the things I need, some days I can't. Either way, I'm grateful to have what I have.

We should all take time to be grateful, as there are people throughout the world far poorer and sicker than the poorest person in this country. Remember what you have and what you get. Don't be selfish, don't be rude, and most of all don't forget those around you, no matter who they are. Austin, you are in my prayers, too.

Pirate fact: Because pirates mostly had small, lightly armored ships, they preferred to board their enemies ships and fight man to man. Using horrifying scare tactics (though often times being greatly out numbered), they raided what they could from the larger ship and retreated quickly with their small, yet highly maneuverable ships.