Problem Overload

On our way to a musical recently, while waiting for the walk sign at the intersection, noticed a woman in a wheel chair. She was double amputee and holding up a sign about having served in two wars and now homeless. Most people tried to avoid eye contact with her and some gave her money. Just about everyone who passed her on their way to the theater was visibly uncomfortable. That image stayed with me for days. It called to mind many other instances of social apathy and failure to act. Having grown up in India, never had to look to hard for that. 

In-fact, there was such an overload of signs that pointed to us having given up on those who needed the most help, were all around. The levels well over the threshold of compassion fatigue. To assuage our guilt, we may offer free food and clothes to the poor on festivals, but look the other way as they continued to suffer for the rest of the year. No matter what we did was only going to be a drop in the ocean - the unmet need was so big. I could not help wondering if people that evening walking over to the theater to get their well-deserved break from work  on a Friday did not feel similar. A problem too big too complex and too out of their power to solve was looking at them dead in the eye.