You Go, Mister

I'll admit - I'm somewhat inconsistent in the positions that I take on things versus what I respect in other people. For myself, I'm a firm proponent of the idea that if you give a man a fish, all you wind up doing is teaching him to depend on you. Much better, says my reasoning, to teach the man to fish, so that, as the saying goes, he'll eat forever. (Then you introduce him to a tailor and a carpenter who like fish, so that he'll eat clothed and sheltered from the elements.)

Be that as it may, I have to give props to one Bill Pond. Mr. Pond goes up to Seattle's Capitol Hill two evenings a week, and hands out soup and sandwiches to the homeless up there - although he doesn't put up with rude people. Although it's something that I wouldn't do myself, I have immense respect for what Mr. Pond is about. We need more people like him around. And as much as I normally dislike the fluffy human interest stories that newspapers use to fill space, I'm actually glad the Times took the time and space to print this.