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Aug 9, 2010

"Our very lives depend on the ethics of strangers, and most of us are always strangers to other people." --Bill Moyers

An Experiment in Generosity

Sally Anderson had 500 dollars to give away. How and where to give it? As she writes, "My husband suggested Goodwill. He said, 'Why not give some money to a family? It should be easy.' So we stopped at Goodwill. I saw a young man buying T-shirts and said, 'I'm part of a generosity project. I'd like to give you $20.' He said, 'Wow, thanks, that's great! Are there more people like you out there?' I was feeling very successful, so as I passed by a man, woman and child with a cart looking like they were going to do some serious shopping, I offered again, much as I had with the young man. this man looked horrified, said, 'No!' and walked away. There I was again with that awful feeling of embarrassment and awkwardness. I went over to where my husband was looking for jeans and said, 'Why do I feel like crying?' He shook his head and shrugged, 'Look, I'm not even gutsy enough to try it. Don't ask me.'"