Scenery People
As I drive down Route 30 here in Chambersburg, Pennsvlvania I pass a Starbucks where business people discuss their next investment. A construction crew has stopped to eat lunch at the KFC. Then I pass Lowes where a couple plans out the backyard patio they want to put in. Just past the Wendy’s is Walmart where there is a homeless man holding his sign for the day. Finally I turn in to my neighborhood and arrive at home…All of these images I have described are all part of the everyday scenery.
Someone described to me the other day that there are three kinds of people we interact with: People people, Machine people, and Scenery people. “People people” are considered to be individuals that we like or aspire to be. “Machine people” are individuals that we interact with everyday but are simply their to perform a service. For example a cashier at Burger King would be a machine person. Beyond that are “scenery people” who are individuals who we completely ignore that we see on the sidewalk, shopping in a store, or just driving down the road. We pass all these places and we see all of these people, but how many of those people do we take the time to get to know. More importantly, how many of those people do we help.
Every single day there is a homeless person there in front of the Walmart. I am willing to bet that not even twenty or even fifteen people stop to help him out. Not only is this sad; it is disgusting. Disgusting that most of those people are more than likely taking home at least $80 worth of groceries if not more. Yet the homeless person at the entrance has nothing. Does compassion and community mean anything to our society?
So my question for you is will you only help the “people people”, or are you willing to show your compassion and good will to everyone you see and meet? Maybe they are hungry for food…maybe they are hungry for friendship…but no matter what the hunger is, I encourage you to reach out to those people instead of just taking the “scenic” route…Fulfill that hunger!
