I have a lot of questions about associations. When is it okay to befriend a person, and when is it taboo?What does it mean: "you are who you hang out with" and is there truth to that? Does this saying imply that I need to be careful hanging around too many different kinds of people for fear that I suffer an identity crisis of some kind?
And on the same line, do I need to be careful not to overhear conversations that could endanger my worldview? Is it dangerous to consider the perspectives of others, even the have-nots?
Do you know anyone of substance, anyone who is considered respectable, who regularly hangs out with the homeless or the drug addicts of the neighborhood? I'm not talking about those who serve Thanksgiving dinner in the soup kitchen once a year, but I really want to know if the destitute people of the world are worth getting to know. Certainly, if those who are satisfied with their lives are uncomfortable talking to people who are socially underneath them, and if I aspire to a comfortable future myself, should I also be afraid to get too close to the destitute ones?
Does a needy family have anything of value to say? Can we learn anything by getting to know them?
Photograph from NY Public Library
