A Rock, A Hard Place, and Katie
The heavyset, wheelchair-bound lady in the dirty ski jacket made her announcement to the crowded Bart train.
“My name is Katie and I have multiple sclerosis. I need to see the doctor and I have to pay a 20 dollar copay. Can anyone help me?”
My fellow passengers stewed in the awkward silence that followed and several of them passed to Katie their spare dollars.
Disgusted, I looked away. Was it my place to say something? Was it my battle to fight?
Was it my place to tell these unassuming Samaritans that “Katie” had just announced the same story right in front of me only two minutes before – while we waited for the Bart train?
Was the $20 dollar bill from the corporate real estate broker who sat next to me not enough to cover this supposed $20 copay? Were the five singles that followed from the young Asian man not enough to cover any extra gap? [In fact, she had called out that she only needed one more dollar after getting the 20 – and when the man came over, riffling through his wallet, she casually said – the other bills would be nice too. He complied.]
Initially sympathetic to the woman’s plight, I cast her the darkest of glares during the rest of the Bart ride.
I know your plan, lady. Your audacity is shocking and your easy lies prey on the innocence of others. You probably don’t even need a wheelchair.
As my feeling of loathing slowly ebbed, I wondered if I, in a position of financial comfort, could justly condemn the woman. What if she was on the brink of starvation? What if she were living out of her car – or worse, completely homeless? When it comes to starvation and poverty, perhaps any tool to assist with survival is justified. This woman had found a loophole into people’s hearts and wallets – the need to pay a copay for multiple sclerosis treatment somehow resonated further than the standard “can you spare a dollar?” It was a con game, no doubt about it, but do the code of ethics still hold when your back is against the wall and you’re just fighting to stay alive?
I’m not advocating in anyway that her fake story was in anyway justified. It further tore at the already threadbare fabric of our public compassion. But still I wonder, when someone is at the foot of Maslow’s pyramid, if ethics stood between people and their basic needs, what would happen?
“My name is Katie and I have multiple sclerosis. I need to see the doctor and I have to pay a 20 dollar copay. Can anyone help me?”
My fellow passengers stewed in the awkward silence that followed and several of them passed to Katie their spare dollars.
Disgusted, I looked away. Was it my place to say something? Was it my battle to fight?
Was it my place to tell these unassuming Samaritans that “Katie” had just announced the same story right in front of me only two minutes before – while we waited for the Bart train?
Was the $20 dollar bill from the corporate real estate broker who sat next to me not enough to cover this supposed $20 copay? Were the five singles that followed from the young Asian man not enough to cover any extra gap? [In fact, she had called out that she only needed one more dollar after getting the 20 – and when the man came over, riffling through his wallet, she casually said – the other bills would be nice too. He complied.]
Initially sympathetic to the woman’s plight, I cast her the darkest of glares during the rest of the Bart ride.
I know your plan, lady. Your audacity is shocking and your easy lies prey on the innocence of others. You probably don’t even need a wheelchair.
As my feeling of loathing slowly ebbed, I wondered if I, in a position of financial comfort, could justly condemn the woman. What if she was on the brink of starvation? What if she were living out of her car – or worse, completely homeless? When it comes to starvation and poverty, perhaps any tool to assist with survival is justified. This woman had found a loophole into people’s hearts and wallets – the need to pay a copay for multiple sclerosis treatment somehow resonated further than the standard “can you spare a dollar?” It was a con game, no doubt about it, but do the code of ethics still hold when your back is against the wall and you’re just fighting to stay alive?
I’m not advocating in anyway that her fake story was in anyway justified. It further tore at the already threadbare fabric of our public compassion. But still I wonder, when someone is at the foot of Maslow’s pyramid, if ethics stood between people and their basic needs, what would happen?
posted by dodger | 11:54 PM
1 Comments:
WOW! What a great site you have here, dodger. I found is from my search for immune system. In my opinion., is a cut above the others. Even though my research regarding A Rock, A Hard Place, and Katie lead me here but match is not exact for A Rock, A Hard Place, and Katie, the content is very beneficial and rewarding. Thank you for reading my comment here.
Post a Comment
<< Home