About the Winnipeg bus driver giving away his shoes.... There are also quite a few other stories on the web about people giving away their shoes. There's even an organization called
Soles4Souls.
It appears that there's something significant or profound about giving up your shoes. It really does give someone something they urgently need; and with your own sudden loss of what seems essential to you, you truly
feel that need. So different from simply giving money.
At any rate, mainly I just want to say to Don, John, and Shaun, thank you for describing the essence of kindness SO eloquently and beautifully.
We've all heard the catchphrases--"being cruel to be kind," "don’t help those who won’t help themselves," etc.--which come from some refrigerated intellectual space that fails to recognize the messy circumstances of individual lives, especially with regard to the homeless. We need to leave the intellect behind sometimes, and just give.
And thank you Andrew, for the fabulous new word, "ass-hattery." I'm saving that one!
Charlotte