THE COST OF CHRISTMAS??

WHAT?, THE COST OF CHRISTMAS????

When we hear someone talk about the cost of Christmas, we usually would think about the computer games and electronic gizmo's that cost an arm and a leg to buy or the food eaten and the weight we all pile on by stuffing our faces with more pastry and meat than we would normally eat in a month.

How much food do we throw away?; how much booze do we swill down to "anoint" the birth of a tiny tot from 2000+ years ago? Now, I am not attempting to be cynical but why do we do it?

As I understand it the symbolism of the birth of Christ and his subsequent life on earth was/is the optimisation of the love of our neighbours and the caring for our moral dignity toward each other. When, in actual fact, there will be people who spend Christmas inside the walls of a hospital, a police cell, a derelict house/flat, a "crack-house", a psychiatric ward, a morgue. What does this tell us about ourselves.

Today, I saw a man, about my age, draped over his supermarket trolley. He looked as though he was about to collapse into the basket and people walked past him in their droves, without a second thought. He could have been having a heart attack, he could have been grieving for a lost wife or he could have been taking his final breath after a major stroke. Who knows?, Who cares?

As it happened, when I approached him and laid my hand on his shoulder, and asked "are you all right, mate"? he shot up to an erect position and shot out the words "YES, I'M FINE, THANK YOU". What cost was that to me? NON. What effort did that gesture take, to confirm this man's state of health? NEGLIGIBLE.

Often as our day to day life takes it's course we see occasions where "we" could offer, at no cost, a minuscule gesture to confirm our social friend a supporting word.

I can tell you now that I am no religious puritan nor am I any more "entitled" than any other person on this earth, yet I do feel a tendency to lean towards caring for my fellow humankind. Do you? Do you tell yourself "I don't give a f*** about the other people on this earth, as long as I get what I want"?. If this is you, what would you think if YOU were suffering on the street, in the gutter, dying and could be saved BUT all were walking past? This is one of those thoughts that few seem to consider but take for granted when they are "in need".

I have talked to 65+ year old's who feel "no-one cares" and I have talked to 8 year old's who say the very same thing. How, as a "civilised" society can we have such a range of dis-enfranchised souls? Our social awareness IS breaking down and "we" are all wallowing in the effluent of poverty, child abuse, isolation, starvation, homelessness and more, which all are holding our feet firmly into the reality of "our" neglect.

Why are people of this world still dying for the lack of food, medicine and care when the "developed nations" tell us all we should give to aid these people? it is the Governments around the world who should ensure their people are protected and that their neighbours receive a similar consideration.

I know, for a fact, that the supermarkets of the UK alone dump thousands (if not millions) of tonnes of food, every week, into the waste areas of our nation. Edible food is lost to old folk, to children, to the disabled and to ordinary folk who suffer due to poverty or age. This is because profits have to be kept at a certain level and foodstuffs must be dumped after a certain date.

With the technology available to man, today, we still have people starving, they still die due to abuse and torture, they still suffer due to blindness etc which could be prevented by food and medicines discarded by the "developed" civilised nations.

WHY?

DO YOU HAVE A STORY???