Ever watched a documentary on National Geographic or on Discover Channel about animals in the wild and happen to come across penguins...well it happens a lot, in fact. They are sooooo interesting. One of the most interesting facts about them and about all birds is that they are always together. They form communities and most of the time they do support each other. Penguins form colonies of sometimes hundreds of them! Its amazing! They work together for food and protection mostly because large numbers = a bounty of food.
Tis the season to make a Harry Potter scarf! My roommate and I decided to make these scarves for ourselves, which turned into us needing to go to town and get supplies. We searched for a bit going to one store that had nothing and going to one store that was closed. Being frustrated, we both decided that what we needed was food. So we went to a little pizza place and it was there that....something happened to us. After ordering our food, we noticed a man walk in. He politely sat down and waited for the waitress to get there for his order. He just wanted water and I heard her say "You usually have to order something to stay." Right then I figured that he was homeless or at the least poor. He asked for a menu and sat there...waiting. Thinking. Wondering. We sat there....looking. Thinking. Wondering. We got our food and went on watching the TV and talking. He then again caught my eye as he asked the waitress "How much for a meatball?" All he could afford was a meatball. A meatball. We sat there...looking. Thinking. Wondering. This really is happening.
I just wonder couldn't the restaurant afford to give him a meatball? Why do people end up like this? How do they get the way they are? One part of me says help the man. The other part says he needs to help himself. One part says feed him. The other part says don't. Complicated. Are penguins that complicated? They are anatomically; however, they are instinctively born to be in a community which is simple. Are we? We should be. Community doesn't mean always giving. Community means helping. I just wonder if we have lost that. Penguins help each other in the wild, not by giving others food, but working as a team to use strategies to gain that food. Swimming techniques and camouflage are all used by these creative creatures to survive. Maybe we should be the same way? A community coming together to help develop a way for this man and other people here and around the world to survive. Putting it that way seems simple...penguin simple. Is it that simple? No. Should it be? Yes. How can it be? Who knows. Sitting at that table, eating our pizza, we thought and felt for this man. However, how can those thoughts and feelings be turned in to betterment and development for those like him. It is a question that needs to be answered and I don't know how to answer that question. Tis the season to give (as they all say during the Christmas season); however, tis the season to feel, think, wonder, and change.
I end with Happy Christmas to the Penguins without a home.
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