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<blockquote data-quote="BusynMember" data-source="post: 660107" data-attributes="member: 1550">Cedar, I think it is. What on earth can we do other than worry about it? We have no power to change it. I care about all of those things, but try not to think about them as there is not one thing I can do. This is so far out of our league, we can't even make a little bit of a difference, if we are being honest. So I think it's ok to ignore it except when there is something we can do to help. Cedar, if I see somebody holding up a homeless sign, knowing t here is a 50% chance or more that he is not really homeless, I offer a meal or give him a blanket anyway and tell him about the places I know that offer help. I can't ignore this when it is in front of my face and I can maybe help somebody out. If somebody makes a racist comment to me, which doesn't happen often perhaps because of my kids, if they can't explain a good reason for why they said it, they are dismissed from my life. I don't want that kind of stink in my life. I am a little more ambivalent about addiction. I care. I would help anyone who asked me to drive him/her to a rehab, if I knew th e person and the person was not dangrous. I would wish him well. But I also think, in the back of my mind, &quot;They chose to do this.&quot; You don't choose to be non-white and you usually don't choose to be poor. But drug addiction...I care deeply for anyone in pain, but I care more about issues that are not self-inflicted problems. Maybe I'm my own kind of snob. Not a money snob, but a snob of a certain type. I mean, I think I had so many home problems, family problems, learning problems, mental health problems and no support and I didn't make it worse by using any drugs, ilncluding alcohol. Maybe it is stuck up of me to expect the same of other people. It probably is.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="BusynMember, post: 660107, member: 1550"] Cedar, I think it is. What on earth can we do other than worry about it? We have no power to change it. I care about all of those things, but try not to think about them as there is not one thing I can do. This is so far out of our league, we can't even make a little bit of a difference, if we are being honest. So I think it's ok to ignore it except when there is something we can do to help. Cedar, if I see somebody holding up a homeless sign, knowing t here is a 50% chance or more that he is not really homeless, I offer a meal or give him a blanket anyway and tell him about the places I know that offer help. I can't ignore this when it is in front of my face and I can maybe help somebody out. If somebody makes a racist comment to me, which doesn't happen often perhaps because of my kids, if they can't explain a good reason for why they said it, they are dismissed from my life. I don't want that kind of stink in my life. I am a little more ambivalent about addiction. I care. I would help anyone who asked me to drive him/her to a rehab, if I knew th e person and the person was not dangrous. I would wish him well. But I also think, in the back of my mind, "They chose to do this." You don't choose to be non-white and you usually don't choose to be poor. But drug addiction...I care deeply for anyone in pain, but I care more about issues that are not self-inflicted problems. Maybe I'm my own kind of snob. Not a money snob, but a snob of a certain type. I mean, I think I had so many home problems, family problems, learning problems, mental health problems and no support and I didn't make it worse by using any drugs, ilncluding alcohol. Maybe it is stuck up of me to expect the same of other people. It probably is. [/QUOTE]

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