Yesterday on my way back to Sihanoukville from
Just then a shoe shine boy accosted me but seeing that I was wearing rubber slippers, he quickly excused himself. I thought that if I were wearing leather shoes or sandals I could have parted with some of my money for this boy who was honestly trying to earn a living. But there was no need for that since another man next to me employed his services and he started on his early morning work just beside where I was eating my bowl of noodles.
Then an elderly man on crutches approached me and begged for some money. I didn’t seem to care because I said to myself that although he was physically handicapped, he could still earn a living doing something other than begging. Fortunately for him, the couple sitting on the next table offered him some loose change.
Now I was really feeling uneasy with myself.
I remembered one of those sayings: “If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.”
Suddenly, a monk appeared in front of me barefooted and dressed in his worn-out saffron robe, carrying an umbrella in one hand and a begging bowl on the other. Without thinking twice, I took out a few riels to put in his begging bowl.
That night I slept soundly.