Social Conscousness

So after writing my breakup to Toms and then retracting it in a post script (so typical of an actual breakup, but I digress) I thought about something. Where do we draw the line with our social conscience?

I became vegetarian in June. Almost eight months ago. There were many different reasons for this, all of which I wont get into at this moment, but one of the reasons was World Hunger. I heard a statistic that if we took all of the grains we use to fatten up our meat then we'd have enough food to feed the world. And it just hurt me. When I later presented this idea to one of my coworkers she patronized me and told me I was VERY idealistic. That hurt too.

I know that there is a lot more to world hunger than our fat cows in America, but in my way, that's me trying to make a dent.

I have these friends who don't eat chocolate or drink coffee unless it's fair trade and that's their dent.

And then there's the money I donate and the prayers I pray and the news programs I watch.

There's my mom trying not to shop at Walmart.

And my dad buying American cars.

And my friends serving in Uganda.

And we're all trying to chip away at these massive problems we have in this world like poverty and hunger and slavery.

So I wonder where is the line? Not as in when is enough enough, but when is too little too little? When is just a small step just right? And when is just a small step just not good enough?

One day I was walking out of a coffee shop and these two little girls were selling cookies and lemonade for fifty cents. When I saw them I thought, "How cute" and was surprised to see this in the middle of the city. So I obliged and bought two cookies.

I didn't think about whether I could get the cookies cheaper somewhere else. I didn't wonder if the girls used fair trade chocolate and tell them I couldn't support them if they didn't. Nope. I just bought them. Because here were two little girls with immediate need asking for my help.

And my heart was completely in it.

I didn't actually eat them because I'm a germ a phobe, but I bought them because I wanted to support these girls.

I have no idea where Girl Scout cookies are made. I have no idea if their ingredients are fair trade, but I'm guessing they aren't. But I always buy those little yummy things. Because it involves helping some girl get a little closer to her dream. Even if her dream is just to sell the most cookies.

So do I think Toms are over-priced. Yes. Maybe they cost as much as they do because it's fair labor. Maybe it's to support the lavish lifestyle of it's staff members. I don't know. Were the Airwalks cheaper. Yes. Is it because they were made by forced labor? I hope not.

But I do know one thing. I bought those shoes because I wanted to have a pair of shoes but also because I wanted to give a pair to a child. I don't have a lot of money. At all. But I do have enough to buy myself a cheap pair of shoes. I have enough to eat. I have enough to pay my bills. I have enough to be sitting here writing this blog. And I have enough to give some of it away to someone who has even less money than I do.

I don't have enough to spend lavishly and to me buying shoes that cost more than $20.00 for myself is a lavish expense. But I do have enough. So when I can, I will use it to help those whom I can, and try not to feel guilty about all the people who I could also be helping. Instead I'll focus on where my heart is when I'm helping these people. And try not to focus on what I'm getting out of it.

Love.