perspective

it is -11 degrees this morning.

it is also garbage/recyclables day, being thursday.

and every thursday as i leave for work i usually see a youngish, thin, unhealthy-looking guy on a broken-down old bike. he comes around and fishes out aluminum cans from the recycle bins on the curbs in the neighborhood. i always leave our cans for him rather than take them in for money myself.

this morning as i pulled out of the driveway, who do i see out in the blistering cold but the guy on the crappy bike, trying to ride down our icy, snowy street, balancing 2 garbage bags of cans on the handlebars. he was wearing a thin jacket and had a raggedy thing tied around his face for protection from the cold.

how ashamed of myself i was at that moment, for i'd just been whining mentally to myself about having to go out in the cold, having to go to work, blah, blah, self-pity blah as i started the car and left the driveway.