OT must read.. Re: VOICE OF COMPASSION

[Guest guest]

Subject: VOICE OF COMPASSION -- THIS IS REALLY WORTH READING!

VOICE OF COMPASSION

I heard a story about Fiorello LaGuardia who was mayor of New York City

during the worst days of the Great Depression and all of WWII. He was

adored

by many New Yorkers who took to calling him the " Little Flower, " because he

was so short and always wore

a carnation in his lapel.

He was a colorful character -- he rode the New York City fire trucks, raided

city " speakeasies " with the police department, took entire orphanages to

baseball games, and when the New York newspapers went on strike, he got on

the radio and read the Sunday funnies to the kids.

One bitterly cold night in January of 1935, the mayor turned up at a night

court that served the poorest ward of the city. LaGuardia dismissed the

judge for the evening and took over the bench himself. Within a few

minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing

a

loaf of bread. She

told LaGuardia that her daughter's husband had deserted her, her daughter

was

sick, and her two grandchildren were starving.

But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop the

charges. " It's a real bad neighborhood, your Honor, " the man told the mayor.

" She's got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson. "

LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the woman and said, " I've got to punish you.

The law makes no exceptions. Ten dollars or ten days in jail. " But even as

he

pronounced sentence, the mayor was already reaching into his pocket. He

extracted a bill and tossed it into his famous hat, saying, " Here is the ten

dollar fine

which I now remit; and furthermore I am going to fine everyone in this

courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread

so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr. Bailiff, collect the fines and give

them to the defendant. "

The following day, New York City newspapers reported that $47.50 was turned

over to a bewildered woman who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her

starving grandchildren Fifty cents of that amount was contributed by the

grocery store owner himself, while

some seventy petty criminals, people with traffic violations, and New York

City policemen, each of whom had just paid fifty cents for the privilege of

doing so, gave the mayor a standing ovation.

Someone beautifully said, " Sympathy sees and says, 'I'm sorry.' Compassion

sees and says, 'I'll help.' When we learn the difference, we can make a

difference.