A Gift I'd Like to Give (Second draft)

Marie Antoinette lives in Alpine, Utah: A community the does so well that it doesn’t understand the complexities of an impoverished lifestyle. At least that’s how it seems to me, as a member of a high-school community where self-proclaimed “underprivileged children” beg for cell phones and cars, not food and shelter. I’ll admit that even though I seem to write smack about other high-school students, I, too, am capable of envy and greed despite having all of the luxuries of a successful lifestyle.

My favorite author, Victor Hugo, said this about his work: “I condemn slavery, I banish poverty, I teach ignorance, I treat disease, I lighten the night, and I hate hatred. That is what I am, and that is why I have written Les Misérables”. Exposure to poverty and cruelty is something Victor Hugo and I don’t have in common, but I would like to think that Victor Hugo and I have at least a common purpose. I, too, condemn slavery and banish poverty. That is what I am and that is why I’m writing this essay: To give the gift of awareness to my peers.

I recall being heartbroken in Paris, France. At every corner there was a beggar, often drunken, usually using the same tactic as the other beggar just around the corner. Occasionally they would be old men with long beards and thin jackets with small, starving puppies and a handful or less of dog food spread across a short blanket. Some of them were women who didn’t speak English and had their pleas written on a note-card, so tourists would understand what they were saying. At first I felt as if I was being tricked, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that even if I was being tricked, these people weren’t faking anything. They were simply starving to death.

This exposure to homelessness prompted me change my behavior. I left a coin for the old woman, kneeling outside of a cathedral as lines of people passed in and out. I dropped a pound into the hat of a toothless guitarist that played outside of an alleyway in Cambridge, England. I haven’t taken great strides in philanthropy, but being aware of the problem at least made me realize how easy my own life really is.

Even though I promote philanthropy, I don’t ask it. What I ask of the reader is to look around and become aware of the harsh realities that envelopes us. Maybe we could all try being a little more grateful to our parents, or ask for a little less and learn to appreciate what we already have, keeping in mind that so many people aren’t so fortunate.