Remarkable story. I'd not have had the kindness for this. I'm grateful people like them exist.
We invited a man into our home at Christmas and he stayed with us for 45 years
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Re: We invited a man into our home at Christmas and he stayed with us for 45 years
#192Earlier quoted context omitted.
Everyone’s situation is different. But typically the reason this offends is because for a stay at home mom a vacuum is a work tool. If the current vacuum is broken then you should just get a new one. It shouldn’t take the place of a Christmas present, which is the opportunity to get her something related to her personal interests rather than her job.
Interesting point of view. But it's common for a man to get a work tool as present (e.g. a drill or a set of wrenches), with the obvious implication that the man will usually be the one who will have to use that tool to fix things around the house - and I have never seen anyone find that offensive. So what makes the vacuum cleaner different?
In this scenario (again, everyone’s situation is different) DIY is more often a hobby for the husband. Repairs are infrequent enough that you could just hire someone as needed, but the husband chooses to do it.
Perhaps more importantly, it’s not his full time job.
Re: We invited a man into our home at Christmas and he stayed with us for 45 years
#193Earlier quoted context omitted.
Without government interference, someone who is stronger/more brutal than you can kill you and take your property, partner, and anything else they like. It is in the top 10 in the world for homicides. Haiti is a horrifying place to live, for most people. The UN says that 85% of the capital is controlled by gangs, and they are spreading out into the rest of the country.
> Without government interference, someone who is stronger/more brutal than you can kill you and take your property, partner, and anything else they like. I cannot understand how people can idealize anarchy. It is as if they read some cool novel and believe that a world without functioning government is going to be something comfortable and safe.
To be devil's advocate, a lot of peoples problems, especially in the US, is from the government. If you get a few years in jail for drug possession, or lose your license because some cop claimed you were high even though you haven't smoked in 12 hours, or they seize your cash or possessions over dubious civil forfeiture laws, or one of any number of other things, the government is your biggest problem and the simplest but naive solution is to eliminate government.
It isn't very forward thinking, but most people are mostly concerned with their immediate problems, not indirect problems that would take decades to culminate afterwards. US governmental problems are now, the problems of potential anarchy are a long ways down the road.
Re: We invited a man into our home at Christmas and he stayed with us for 45 years
#194> The homeless centre told them Ronnie needed an address to get a job, Rob said, but "to get an address, you need a job". > "That's the Catch 22 that loads of homeless people are in." Breaking this systemic barrier would make life easier on a lot of people.
I wonder why they require it?
Systemically & historically, the US favors landowning white men and discriminates against others wherever possible.
Re: We invited a man into our home at Christmas and he stayed with us for 45 years
#195Crazy to see this story on the front page of the BBC and now Hacker News too! Ronnie was an awesome guy, and absolutely a part of Rob and Dianne's family, not a "maid" as another comment suggested.
Re: We invited a man into our home at Christmas and he stayed with us for 45 years
#196beautiful... kindness can go a long way :) we could all do better (and I point mostly at myself now)
Agreed. We could all do better. I know it would be very difficult for me to do what these people did. Some of us are perhaps barely neurotypicals and barely holding it together. I worry that having to care for an autistic individual may push me over. I am not using that as an excuse, but genuinely curious if there are others in this position. They want to help, but worry that they are not sane and stable enough to handle the task.
Re: We invited a man into our home at Christmas and he stayed with us for 45 years
#197Not as hugely generous as this story, but during his whole college professor career since the 70s, my father always took care that none of his students spent any major holidays alone and away from home, so we always ended up having 2 or 3 of them around for Christmas, the New Year, Easter...
They were from everywhere around the country and the world, and it was so very enriching for me and my siblings. I had a huge postage stamp collection from the ever increasing well wishing mail that arrived.
It's also kind of comforting to think that anywhere in the world you are not that far from someone that remembers you fondly.
Re: We invited a man into our home at Christmas and he stayed with us for 45 years
#198> one young UK couple's act of kindness 50 years ago changed their lives forever.
I like to think that their caring life did not really change, they were like that to begin with, they just missed a Ronni from it. : )
Re: We invited a man into our home at Christmas and he stayed with us for 45 years
#199Earlier quoted context omitted.
If the reaction is actually knee jerk/automatic before the upper brain(?)/concious tolerant/empathetic side can take control, is someone a jerk for having that primal response first. I consider myself very tolerant and empathetic and I do my damndest to be that way, but my wife says sometimes it’s not the first thing that shows. I’m trying as hard as I know how. Should I be condemned?
> Should I be condemned? You shouldn't be condemned, but as I wrote, people should stop the hypocrisy and virtue signalling of pretending to be so insanely tolerant if they have such a primal response.
It's not virtue signaling to try to be better. Stop making this weird.
Re: We invited a man into our home at Christmas and he stayed with us for 45 years
#200Not as hugely generous as this story, but during his whole college professor career since the 70s, my father always took care that none of his students spent any major holidays alone and away from home, so we always ended up having 2 or 3 of them around for Christmas, the New Year, Easter... They were from everywhere around the country and the world, and it was so very enriching for me and my siblings. I had a huge p…
It's great to hear there are amazing people like your father. We need more of these people in this world.