No Dinner Tonight

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Recently a local television news station did a story about a school bus driver, and his wife in a nearby community. Both were hailed as heroes. Here is their story.

Near the end of last year's school season, the bus driver was loading elementary school students one Friday afternoon when he noticed a first grade girl sitting alone with her head lowered and tears running from her eyes.

The driver approached her and asked why she looked so sad on a Friday afternoon when the school week was nearing its end. He told her to cheer up like all the other students. The driver reported that the little girl replied, "I'm sad because I know that there will be nothing to eat when I get home."

When the school bus driver got home that evening, he told his wife about his contact with the girl. Together, they both agreed to help. The following Friday, the bus driver gave the little girl a backpack with plenty of food in it for the weekend.

Soon there were other children on the bus driver's route that asked for food, and by year's end, the driver and his wife were packing six backpacks of food each Friday. During the summer break, the driver and his wife, working with the blessings of the school district, collected food and backpacks from the community. Today, the couple distributes over 120 backpacks every Friday to any student who asks.

Well, I guess the driver and his wife are heroes. They certainly are very compassionate and giving. But, you know I have some concerns with this.

First of all, I have difficulty believing that first little girl using those exact words when asked by the driver about why she was sad. It just seems that if there was no dinner for her on that Friday night, then the same would hold true for the other six nights of the week.

And if she was hungry, why was that? Shouldn't Children's Services have been notified? Perhaps there are issues of child neglect. And now that half of the school's student population is claiming to be underfed, there must be a significant problem in that community. Maybe it is like the Haiti syndrome where our charitable food donations never make it to the hungry. Certainly these families, if truly hungry, qualify for some government assistance, don't you think?

No, I don't think any of these scenarios really exist. I think it is more of a bunch of people taking advantage of the gullible and compassionate people in the community. And it is yet another example of how all these entitlement programs create and propagate a bunch of lazy individuals. And they are even learning it in the first grade because our schools help teach them the way.

Just as my Teacup Poodle has learned she can get a treat even though she didn't do her deed, so the entitlists get rewards simply for asking.

Have a wonderful weekend!
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