Breakfast at Mac in New York

I am beginning to loathe cold weathers..change is the only thing that stays..i used to like and welcome cold weathers after being in Singapore since birth but now, i just dislike going out in the cold..especially when it is minus something degrees outside..

Writing from New York now on a Saturday evening 2pm here..back home should be around 3am Sunday morning..

anyway, it has been a couple of months since I came New York and was really looking forward to coming back here but I found myself staying in the room most of the time here just to keep myself warm..well, it isnt so bad since the telly programs in the states are really good.i get to watch shows and sitcoms which I have missed.

As a matter of fact, I have lotsa stuff which have been overdued..various readings and my revision for Jap hasnt been keeping up...of course and my beauty sleep!!

There is something I must share here..It disturbs me quite abit especially when it was the first thing I encountered in the morning.

I was having my breakfast in Mcdonalds' off W55 ST when a man came around asking for 50cents to have his breakfast..of course it wasnt enough and he was begging from table to table..

I didnt give him any and I would have if it was back home..but overseas, I am just very careful to open my wallet unless I am purchasing something over at a counter..even so, I am also very careful. And I have a habit of travelling on my own, going out shopping or having my meals alone so for a Chinese girl going on her own in the States, one has to be extra careful. So, it disturbs me when I saw this old man begging around for money inside Mcdonalds'.

2 thoughts came across my mind. 1, Is the states so free that beggars can beg inside shops? 2, My heart goes out to him but he didnt look that poor and shabbily dressed to be a beggar so what kind of life is he going through that he has to beg?

Consequently my mind was thinking if only I am able to introduce Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism to him..perhaps he is able to live a happier life without having that insecurity of having to beg for breakfast..then i realised that maybe he doesnt have that presence of mind that this is insecure or unhappy at all..maybe he has mental illness as he appeared so...i pity him really and not just him...having travelling to various countries made me seen so many people just like him..

Each time I walk passed these people and watching them lying down in the cold streets begging for money makes me feel sorry for them. I feel even worst when I dont help but giving money and I also feel worst when I do give them because I dont know if I am doing what I should when I give. Perhaps when I donate, I am not really doing them right. I always wonder what kind of life they went through and why do they have to beg.

Back in Singapore i know it isnt quite right to donate to those beggars or peddlers because if anything at all, to help them is to go through the right channels like social services or something because the system in singapore doesnt encourage beggars and i personally believe that the best way for these people is to help them find something that can sustain them in the long run instead too.

However, overseas, it is a different story but in the states, doesnt they have more social welfare than us?

*sigh* anyhow, that sight kinda spoilt my appetite when I was so looking forward to my deluxe breakfast at Mac.