A friend invited us to help serve dinner at Tent City. A number of tents (帐篷) were set up for the homeless in that area.
I took my two boys with me. They were 9 and 5 at the time. They had a lot of questions because this whole thing challenged their common ideas about how people lived in the world.
"Why don't they have homes?"
"Why don't they get food the way we do?"
We talked through the reasons why people end up in this type of situation and the importance of creating a safety net for them. I explained that many times, the only safety net is other people who are willing to share some of their time and care.
The people we served were different in age from the young to the elderly. Many of them were missing teeth or had dirty clothes. Surprisingly, they were quite thankful that I had brought the boys. Many said how fun it was to have active, joyful children around.
After dinner, I saw my older son sitting together with several elderly gentlemen who were talking about sports in front of a small television set. He was having a great time sharing and hearing stories. As some people returned to their tents, I heard him tell them, "Thanks so much for coming to dinner with us." I could see through their facial expressions that his simple words touched them greatly. I hugged him a little tighter as we left to go home because it touched me too.
It reminds us that treating people with respect (尊重), no matter who they are, can lift all of us up.
