DISASSISTED BY LIFE...

 DISASSISTED BY LIFE...

There's the body lying on the floor

Instead of a face, a photo of a goal

Instead of praying someone's curse

And a silence serving as an amen

The nearest bar quickly filled up

Trickster together with worker

A man climbed onto the bar table

And he made a speech to the councilor

And with these verses begins the samba "De frontal pro crime", by João Bosco and Aldir Blanc. It is a chronicle of everyday violence, where a person's life has little value, since death itself has been trivialized by society... and death comes in many ways...

Normally, when we pass by a busy avenue and stop at a traffic light, we close the car windows, due to the fear of urban violence... and when we see some people trying to earn some money selling trinkets in the middle of the traffic, our first reaction is to turn around face and pretend they aren't there... when they knock on our window, asking for our attention, we thank heavens if the light turns green and we can drive away, without our having heard their silent plea for help. When we are walking down a street, even a busy one, and we pass someone with an outstretched hand, asking us to help them, our first impulse is to cross the street and turn our faces away, so that we do not see the misery that is in front of us. ... and when we pass by that avenue, even if we are inside the bus, and we come across an entire community protecting itself as best it can from the weather, under marquees and bridges? Even horrified by the situation of our brothers, we preferred not to be aware of what happened, trying to convince ourselves that it would never happen to us...

Yes, our first impulse when witnessing a situation that would only be admissible in a country at war (incidentally, it would not even be admissible in this case) is to try to ignore it so that we are not infected with the situation. We do like the ostrich... we hide our heads in a hole so that we cannot see the hardships of our fellow creatures. It is for no other reason that we turn our noses up when we come across any community. It is not that we consider the people in that group inferior to us. In fact, what we are afraid of, for whatever reason, we end up being part of that group, where we will end up going through the same difficulties that they go through... and the fear of facing adversities not programmed by us is very disturbing...

When we see those people sleeping under awnings, covered with a piece of cardboard, when we see a hungry child extending a hand to us... the feelings of pity and disgust for the situation alternate within us... if it is children approaching us , our first question (to ourselves, because we don't express it...) is... "where are the parents of that child, who leave him lying in the street, in danger?"... sometimes they are just a few steps away, trying to get the necessary food for their subsistence. They are crying out for help so they can survive. If they are healthy they still get a crumb of our attention. But if, for some reason, they are under the influence of some substance that alters their senses... and I'm not talking about any harder drug, I'm talking about alcohol, really... well, then we certainly won't pay any attention to it. them, afraid of having our safety compromised... and many times, all those people need from us is a word of comfort, of affection...

Now, let's talk about how we select (if we can say so) the people we're least afraid to help... of course this isn't a rule, but it's how we usually behave... if it's a child, chances are to get help are great. If it's a girl, the chances increase exponentially. If it's a young woman, we're already on the back foot. If you're drunk, or under the influence of any other substance, your chances are zero... except, of course, if you're pretty. In that case, even if she's drunk or under the influence of other things, she'll have a chance of being helped by men... If she's elderly, clean-faced or not, her chances are minimal... if she's a man, and not a child, your chances of getting help will be greatly reduced, as society in general sees male representatives as a potential danger...

As I said above, this is not a rule, but it is how we generally act. To protect ourselves from what we believe to be dangerous to our physical integrity, we are deaf, dumb and blind to the difficulties of our fellow men. It's like that saying goes..."little flour, my mush first". Of course, there are exceptions, as there are exceptions to every rule. There are those who get together in groups and try to help these people who are unattended by luck and, with the help of a small part of society, try to rescue and reinsert these people back into the heart of life...

It's eight hours and forty-five minutes into this beautiful and wonderful Wednesday that begins. It's 24ºC, which means a hot day. Can it rain in the afternoon? He can. But if it happens, it will be a localized rain...

May God bless us all and soften our hearts, so that we are able to reach out to those in need without any kind of fear on our part. May we have the sensitivity to put ourselves in these people's shoes and become aware of how important it is to give the help they need...

May this be the most beautiful of all Wednesdays we've ever experienced in our lives. See you tomorrow, God willing...