Last July I wrote a post about something my nephew, Trevor, said. This post dealt with his perspective as a little boy. You can read about it here. I was with him this past week and he said something that made me realize how much different of a perspective kids have than adults.
We were driving and came to a stoplight where a man was standing at the intersection with a sign that said "Hungry and homeless. God bless." As Trevor saw the man and read the sign, I could tell that as he was reading it he was sincerely concerned about this man. He talked about him for about five minutes saying how he wished he could help the man and how he felt sorry for him, especially since it was a hot day. I could hear his hurt for this man in his voice.
I'm kind of ashamed to admit that Trevor's reaction to seeing this man was much different than mine. Trevor saw the man as being completely sincere and honestly needing help and wanted to help him. I saw the man as a possible liar and wondered if he was just trying to run a scam on all the passers-by.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way about the people who stand on the street corners like that. I wish I wasn't so jaded and cynical about those people, but unfortunately there are some people who have ruined it for those who are sincere about needing help.
I thought about Trevor's innocence and naivety to this situation and wished I could be like that. I wonder when it is that we lose that innocence.
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