My Own Concept of "Sharing"
Posted on Saturday, 20 August 2016
MY OWN CONCEPT OF “SHARING”
By Apolinario Villalobos
FOR THE TNTH TIME, I WOULD LIKE TO
REITERATE THAT MY BLOGS ABOUT THE UNFORTUNATES ARE NOT MEANT TO BE USED AS
TOOLS TO SOLICIT FUNDS. I SHARE MY PERSONAL ENCOUNTER WITH THESE PEOPLE TO LET
SOME VIEWERS KNOW THAT WHAT THEY OCCASIONALLY SEE AS FLASHED ON TV SCREENS ARE
TRUE. I MADE THIS CLEAR IN MY EARLIER BLOGS THAT VIEWERS ARE NOT ENCOURAGED TO
SEND HELP TO ME AFTER LEARNING MY LESSON FROM RECEIVING HELP WITH STRINGS
ATTACHED. THAT IS ALSO THE REASON WHY I HAVE SECOND THOUGHTS ABOUT POSTING THEM
ON FACEBOOK. ON THE OTHER HAND, WHAT I ASK ARE PRAYERS FOR ME TO BE ABLE TO GO
ON, AND FOR THESE PEOPLE TO GO ON WAKING UP IN THE MORNING BECAUSE THEY ENJOY
LIFE DESPITE DEPRIVATIONS.
IT IS FUNNY HOW SOME PEOPLE CAN BE SKEPTIC
INTO ASSUMING THAT WHAT OTHERS ARE DOING ARE IMPOSSIBLE, JUST BECAUSE THEY
(SKEPTICS) CANNOT, EVEN IN THEIR WILD IMAGINATION, DO THEM AS SUCH ACTS MEAN A
LOT OF SACRIFICE. THEY ALSO REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT OUT THERE, ARE PEOPLE WHO
DIRECTLY PUT INTO THEIR MOUTH MORSELS OF FOOD PICKED UP FROM TRASH. THEY
THOUGHT ONLY ANIMALS DO THAT. WHAT ELSE WOULD ONE WANT TO KNOW ABOUT A FAMILY
WHO KEEPS MOVING AROUND WITH THEIR PRECIOUS BELONGINGS IN A PUSHCART FOR FEAR
THAT THEY WILL BE “APPREHENDED” BY SOCIAL WORKERS, BUT OCCASIONALLY STOPPING BY
GARBAGE DUMPS TO PICK UP JUNKS THAT THEY CAN SELL, OR IF LUCKY ENOUGH, EATABLE
MORSELS OF FOOD THAT THEY CAN STUFF DIRECTLY INTO THEIR MOUTH?
I KNOW THAT SOME PEOPLE CANNOT TAKE PHOTOS
AND ESSAYS THAT FOR THEM ARE HORRENDOUS AND DEPRESSING, AS THEY CONTAIN WHAT
THEY ASSUME AS “UNBELIEVABLE” PRIVATIONS. THEY ARE THEN, ADVISED TO SKIP MY
BLOGS WHICH ARE ONLY MEANT FOR THOSE WHO ARE REALLY INTERESTED.
SOME PEOPLE ALSO THOUGHT THAT SHARING IS A
“TREND”, A “CRAZE”. JUST BECAUSE OTHERS
ARE DOING IT, THEY MUST DO IT, TOO, TO BE “IN”. THEY MUST KNOW THAT SHARING IS
A 24/7 ADVOCACY THAT KNOWS NO SEASON AND TIME. IT IS NOT JUST SHARING ON
CHRISTMAS DAY JUST BECAUSE IT IS THE “BIRTHDAY” OF JESUS. IT IS NOT ABOUT
SHARING JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE ASKED FOR HELP. SINCERITY IS LOST IN SHARING IF
ONE WHO DOES IT NEEDS TO BE PRODDED. AND, SHARING IS NOT ABOUT GIVING BECAUSE
THERE ARE CAMERAS AROUND!
SOME PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW THE MINUTEST
DETAILS OF OTHER PEOPLE’S LIVES BEFORE THEY GIVE HELP AS IF WHAT THEY SEE OUTRIGHT
AND ON-THE–SPOT ARE NOT ENOUGH.
IF I
SHARE THE DETAILS OF WHAT I DO TO EARN THE TRUST OF THESE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN
EXPLOITED FOR A LONG TIME THAT THEY BECOME SUSPICIOUS EVERY TIME A STRANGER WHO
TALKS TO THEM BRINGS OUT A CELLPHONE WITH CAMERA, THE STUFF WOULD NO LONGER BE
A SIMPLE BLOG BUT A BOOK.
SOME VIEWERS ALSO, FORGOT THAT I DO THINGS
ALONE DRIVEN BY A PERSONAL DESIRE. I AM NOT A PAID JOURNALIST NOR, DO I BELONG
TO A FOUNDATION OR AN “NGO”. I SHARE SPONTANEOUSLY WHAT I CAN AFFORD BASED ON
WHAT MY POCKETS CONTAIN AT THE TIME OF ENCOUNTER. HOW CAN I ASK THE FATHER OF A
FAMILY ON THE SIDEWALK IF HE HAS MONEY, WHEN OBVIOUSLY, THEY HAVE NOT YET EVEN
SHARED A CUP OF COFFEE TO WARM THEIR EMPTY STOMACH? SKEPTICS MIGHT ALSO BE
INTERESTED TO KNOW THAT UNTIL NOW, THESE PEOPLE WHO LEARNED TO TRUST ME DO
NOT KNOW MY NAME.
FOR SEVERAL DECADES THAT I HAVE BEEN
SHARING WITH THE UNFORTUNATES, I ALSO HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO KNOW THE KIND OF
PEOPLE WHO AT FIRST GLANCE SEEM TO BE BENEVOLENT- THEY WHO I THOUGHT WERE
SINCERE IN EXTENDING ASSISTANCE. IN TIME, THEIR TRUE COLOR BECOMES DISCERNIBLE
WHEN THEY BEGIN TO GIVE ME INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW I SHOULD DO MY RANDOM ACTS, EVEN
TO THE POINT OF IMPLYING THAT “PERHAPS, SOME OF THE UNFORTUNATES REALLY DO NOT
NEED HELP”.
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