November 20: Terrible Old Man, Selfish People, Throwing Up Blood

Terrible old man! thought Starbuck with a shudder, sleeping in the gale, still thou steadfastly eyest thy purpose.

Starbuck could easily be thinking of Ebenezer Scrooge, Mr. Potter from It's A Wonderful Life, or Donald Trump.  As the first mate notes, the terrible old man is all about self-centeredness and ego.  A person who only thinks of himself and his purpose.

I don't understand selfish people.

My daughter's boyfriend is in the Boy Scouts.  Two summers ago, he was participating in a can drive to raise funds for a camping hike he was going on.  He went to a house and was confronted by an old man who decide to berate him for the Boy Scouts organization's decision to be more inclusive, accepting LGBTQ scouts/leaders and (GASP!) girls.  The old man was downright ignorant and mean to my daughter's boyfriend.

Prime selfishness.  An adult verbally abusing a young person to make himself feel superior and smart.  Of course, all this old man succeeded in doing was prove that he was a homophobic misogynist.

That's what all selfish people do--they expose their own fears and failings.  Lack of human compassion.  Racism.  Antisemitism.  Homophobia.  Misogyny.  Islamophobia.  Just plain lack of kindness and goodwill.  Selfish people are the bullies who shove you into high school lockers.  Who refuse to help coworkers who are sick.  Who, when you say "I was throwing up blood all last night," respond with something like "I got a paper cut last night, and then I peeled an orange and got some juice in the cut and it hurt really bad."

If you can't tell, there's a story behind this post that I won't share.  All I will say is kindness and compassion are pretty easy things to indulge in.  They make lives better, and they make you feel better about yourself.  Sure, selfishness may initially make your life easier.  You won't have to work late for a coworker or visit somebody in the hospital or drop your last dollar in a Salvation Army Christmas kettle.  However, in the long run, being selfish will alienate friends and family, irritate acquaintances, turn you into a Republican, and make you wear a MAGA hat.  Who wants that?

Sure, if you say "yes" all the time, you will be taken advantage of from time to time.  But I'll take that chance.

Saint Marty will always err on the side of kindness.