Sympathy Or Tissue Packets; What Are You Selling?

Woke up slightly earlier today as parents wanted to have lunch out. We decided to go all the way to Tiong Bahru Market to have our lunch, largely due to the fact that both of them craved for the famous vegetarian store there - a personal family favorite.

We arrived just in time for lunch and soon placed our orders. We had identical servings of vegetarian food; a combination of bee hoon, noodles and an assortment of vegetarian products.

Now, I've heard from my Father that the place is not only famous for its food but also for its abundance of "street sellers" going from table to table, selling packet tissues. Personally I've seen people like that going around in various places and often, they're either disabled or have a certain degree of impairment.
True enough, throughout our lunch there, we encountered not one but two separate groups of these "sellers". One of which consisted of a blind man and a lady, both elderly and frail looking.

I look at them and it baffles me greatly. Are they here to do a simple business of selling tissue packets or are they indirectly begging?

I feel and strongly believe that every human is kind by nature. The human mind thus works in a way that when we see someone that's either less fortunate or in a dire state of life, emotions stir. Emotions such as pity and compassion comes into play and the next natural reaction is that subconsciously, we will find ourselves wanting to help and give assistance to these poor folk.
So what we have here on our hands must surely be a masterstroke in business, an awesome way to earn money, a marketing marvel; to tap into the human mind's weakness. Or is it?

I've seen many advertisements or campaigns that use this "flaw" in the human mind as a catalyst to fuel and elaborate certain points. But let us take a small step back; are these "street sellers" really sinister business men that are out there just for your money?

No.

In the past, the people I see out there on the streets selling tissue packets have often reminded me of the beggars on the television and in a sense yes, they share a similarity as both parties are ultimately trying to meet end's meet.

In our society of controversy, we have been "brain-washed" to see these people in a different light. Nowadays, people see beggars and no, the first thing they do isn't to search for spare change but to doubt their authenticity. So what happens is that people dismiss the compassion and pity they have in their minds and dismiss the idea of helping a person in need.

Yes, there have been various scams from sly businessmen to use the weakness of humans to their advantage but let us not forget that there are still less fortunate people out there in our society.

So as I look at these people going from table to table selling tissue packets (largely to no avail), I begin to search and look for the compassion and pity that our society filtered away in me. No, though not all of them are like that, these people are in genuine need of help and assistance. They hobble round just to make end's meets, selling simple tissue packets.

To me, they're just doing an honest business to cope with the demands of life. I'm sure that they harbour no malicious intent. I'd like to think of it in such a way that they're trying their best to give back and not ask from society.

I feel that the higher authorities should do something and give these genuine cases their due amount of assistance. Its no doubt that we live in a demanding society, but what about people less fortunate? Life must be really hard for them.

Be it Sympathy or Tissue Packets, I'm sure by the end of the day it all depends mainly on the perspective of how you view the matter.

So let us open up these "filters" and see the world with an open mind. Only then, will we find the true meaning in our lives.