Find Your Humanity!

The other day, when I was coming by an auto from office, we got stuck in the traffic and it usually happens that the driver starts talking just to kill time. Mostly they talk about the roads and rain and sometimes they ask about your family or native place. This time the driver started about an operation he had to remove the appendix and the troubles he had had because of that. Traffic eased up but he continued and said he was asked to take rest but then he had to drive the auto to earn and he still had pains in his stomach because there was some other complication(I couldn't catch that part) and he had to get operated once more. All this while I was wondering why he was telling me all that and if he wanted me to do anything. The worst part is that in the end, he didn't want anything from me and I couldn't even mumble some encouraging words. I was ashamed of myself, really.

I guess it's because I've heard many a stories like this from my mother. Old and destitute ladies, people who luck has deserted totally and some times, even friends and kin who one can't see in misery. Sometimes she asks me explicitly to help them and other times, I do it voluntarily and make her happy. But it's always easy when it comes from my mother because otherwise when I hear them from people directly, I'm always at a dilemma - may be people just want a sympathetic ear and I may offend them by offering money? I never know.