Mardi Gras is a bigger deal than I realized. I thought it was just several days of festivity, this year culminating on February 24, the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. But about two weeks ago, shortly after all the Christmas decorations had come down, the Mardi Gras decorations began to go up. They are beautiful. The Mardi Gras colors are purple, gold, and green, and you gotta (especially when your favorite color is purple) love a holiday that spotlights those colors. Couple that with the rare but still occasionally seen Valentine's Day decorations, and I am in magical color bliss.
Here are some questions we've been struggling with recently. Why does begging have such a negative stigma attached to it? We stepped into a hotel yesterday to use the restroom on our way home from busking in the Quarter and Brendan noticed that a buffet lunch was in progress. We talked about what it would be like to go to a hotel kitchen as ask them to give us the leftover food from buffets such as that one, food that would otherwise be thrown away. My immediate reaction is that I would never want to do that because it seems like begging.
An article I read awhile back in a sustainable living magazine highlighted a woman who has developed a relationship with her local grocery store. She goes there on a particular day once or twice a week and they give her their just-expired products. She takes what she needs for her family, and delivers the rest to a shelter or food bank (I don't remember the exact details). This is essentially the same situation as the hypothetical one, but it feels so much "nicer." I put that in quotes because it seems like an illusion to me. It's still someone taking someone else's trash.
So why does it so much better than the first example? I think the only reason is because of the extra going to a shelter or food bank. The grocery store and the person who takes what he/she needs and donates the rest can both feel morally superior for having done this good act. I don't mean to demean this--I think it's great that perfectly good food that would otherwise be trash would go to someone's grateful belly. I also think it's great to support shelters and food banks. But why do I react so strongly against something that seems akin to begging and not to something that's also like begging but couched in good deeds?
These are just preliminary thoughts. But I think this question is well-worth considering. There is something wrong that we have such negative reactions to begging.
