Internet's Down

The internet went down at my brother's place, where i have been staying the past couple weeks. So I had the pleasure to walk for half an hour down a hill to get to this lovely internet cafe in Berkeley. It really was a nice walk, even if it was a little rough on my knees. I have thought about taking the bus back up the hill, but I decided that I have the time to walk and the exercise would be good for me. I don't want to get into the habit of spending small amounts of money to make my life slightly easier.

Lately I have been wondering why giving to strangers has become so taboo in American society. I was sitting on the subway the other day, and there was an old man standing at the other end of the car. He was not fragile, he looked like he was in good health. His lady friend had managed to snag a seat next to a late 30s person. But, even though he was surrounded by younger people, no one offered him their seat. I wonder why no one near her thought to give up their seat for him. I would like to think that had I been on that side of the car I would have given him my seat. But I suppose I won't know until I get the opportunity. It is often hard to publically give when no one else is doing so.
Americans also seem reluctant to accept help. They say they don't want to be a bother, or they don't want to cause another hardship, which are good intentions. But I do not see helping someone else as a burden, I see it more as a lucky opportunity. Helping people is very rewarding for the person giving as well as the person receiving. Everyone ends up feeling better about their interaction. And I refuse to feel like others are indebted to me when I help them. I would rather they waited until they had the opportunity to help me, or someone else instead of endeavoring to "repay their debt." I don't even like framing it as a debt. Debt implies that you own someone something. Helping others should be done with no strings attached, and assuming that you owe something to someone who helps you is, in fact, doubting their generosity.

Also, everyone should check out my article "What is a Christian? Part One: Values are Practical"