‘Kindness’ Is The Name Of The Curse - 5. ’Be Kind To Strangers’ Is Not Just An Anecdote
5. ’Be Kind To Strangers’ Is Not Just An Anecdote
’Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt’ - Exodus 22:21
Many religions tell faithful followers to be kind to strangers, but if you have some sense, you do not always expect kindness from strangers. If you are an atheist, you still have a set of rules that you follow and you would not typically lend your hands to strangers indiscriminately. If a stranger who smells so horribly approaches you, would you not avoid him/her? If a stranger looks like a gangster and asks you to lend some money, would you feel comfortable? Do you assume that all strangers approaching you on streets and asking help are genuinely in need of your assistance or you assume that many of them, if not, all of them, are conning you? Most parents tell their children to walk away from strangers if they are approached. Many adults would be cautious if strangers talk to them. Understandable reality, and it makes you to think that ’be kind to strangers’ is just an anecdote. A number of quotes to teach the idea are found in the Bible. Qur’an shares a good part of the bible, so it is probably fair to guess that it teaches the same idea as well. Hinduism, Buddhism and all other religions probably share the same idea. Most of atheists probably believe that, in principle, they should be kind to strangers. But does it reflect the reality at all? None whatsoever.
—– —– —– —– —–
He first asked the waiter to see if he could borrow money from him. He explained his situation and told him that this was an emergency. He told him that he moved to the city only three weeks ago. He would soon start working and earning a good salary and he would also find a reasonable flat in the coming weeks and settle down. It was just that he miscalculated his budget and he found himself short of cash. The waiter told him that he would help him if he could, but he was short of cash. He understood; he then asked the waiter to see if he could speak to his employer, the restaurant’s owner to ask the same thing. The waiter hesitated first, but he let him speak to the owner.
The restaurant owner initially told him that she could not lend any money because he was a total stranger and there was no guarantee that he would pay it back. He understood that; there were enough cheats, liars and con artists already in the city. But he realized that he could at least prove his identity by showing his passport. He also realized that he could let her have it as a token of guarantee, which was exactly what he did. He took out his passport and handed it to the lady and asked if she could give him a small short-term emergency loan; he’d get the passport back when he paid it back. She agreed and lent him enough to get by for the next week. Meanwhile, he would make further arrangements to borrow a necessary amount temporarily to pay back the money borrowed from the restaurant owner and pay back all debts once he started receiving salaries.
He thanked her and left the restaurant. He walked back to the hotel, went straight to the front desk and paid for his room for the week. Then, he was shown his belongings packed in a large garbage back; the hotel apparently made the arrangement to throw him out if he couldn’t make the necessary arrangement in a day or two. It didn’t happen since he was able to pay for the room. He went back to his room and crushed in bed.
