For the Thanksgiving holiday...

...my wife and I went back to her home of New Orleans. Her generation had been planning a Thanksgiving family reunion in two months leading up to the holiday. It was to be a surprise for their 92 year old matriarch who has been blessed to see five generations come after her. The even was a beautiful one. It took place on the family property in the small town of Liberty, MS just over the border that separates Louisiana and Mississippi. There was plenty of people, food, and love for everyone. My wife finally filled her lifelong ambition to be a part of the women who coordinate the function. Is was a great event and kept us on a joyous high when we returned to New Orleans that night.

On the next day, my wife and I take in some sights in hopes of me catching a few good pictures and her meeting up with a few old friends. We decide to take in the local delicacy called the shrimp Po Boy (if you've never eaten one in New Orleans, you've never eaten a real Po Boy). While sitting in the restaurant waiting on our food, I see the man pictured walk up to the pay phone by the door and check the change return. This is the move of someone whose not only down on their luck, but exhausts all possibilities of gathering for themselves short of crime. I see him start to ask people for change as they enter and leave the restaurant. I ask my wife to ready a couple of dollars so we can hand to him as we leave.

I am always conflicted when helping those in need. On one hand, I have to get the vibe that the person needing the help is sincere in his asking. I have to feel like he is a person truly in need of help as opposed to trying to fund some vice. I don't know if my intuition is ever right, but I trust that I am being led to the right choice whenever I decide to help or not (and it is usually more of the former than the latter). On the other hand, I am always conflicted about if I have helped enough. My philosophy learnings have led me to be a big practitioner of qualitative utilitarianism. This is not just a belief that every action should be an attempt to help the most number of people at one time, but also the act should have a genuine impact on the well being of others (teaching to fish rather than giving a fish, in other words). I always feel like I could've done more and it takes me a while to come to the conclusion that I did all that I could at that moment and I could've done no more.

This gentleman asked me on the way out if I had any change, just like he asked the others. I pulled two dollars from my pocket and handed it to him (Islam teaches that everyone should practice regular charity). He gave a very sincere thank you. I don't know why, but after that I asked if I could take his picture and he obliged. He then asked if I could help him a little more so he could get something to eat. I guess we both connected in a way that to me he seemed like a man who was in genuine need of help and to him I seemed like someone willing to sincerely help in any way I could. My wife had asked earlier if we should give our remaining food to him and I declined only because I never want to assume things like that. After he asked for help to get something to eat, I returned to the car to grab the two sandwiches that my wife and I hadn't even touched and gave them to him. I hope it helped that man live a little easier even if it was just for a day. One day, I hope to be in a position to where I can help many people qualitatively. I never asked this man's name. We simply left our interaction with the impressions that someone will always need a little help every now and then and there are people who really want to help.