On a Completely Different Note...

I love to watch medical mystery or surgery shows -- generally the more unusual the better, but this sad story on National Geographic last night was more sad than interesting. This poor guy named Huang from SE China is called the "Elephant Man of China" and for a second, I thought it was the guy we saw in Chongqing with a sign asking for money to fund a surgery, but it was not. (remember that poor guy, Nancy?).



What was so strange about the guy we saw in Chongqing was the reaction of our guide, Christy. She was adamant that we were not to give him too much money. She said 100 yuan as too much! (about $15). I wish I had given him 500 yuan now. First, it was none of her business how much we gave him and secondly, if this poor guy has to beg for money for a surgery that his government should provide for him, he deserves it, especially from an anonymous American who has plenty to spare (relatively speaking, we are millionaires to them). Grace got the top plastic surgeon to perform her palate surgery for no other reason than God put her in our care with good insurance near the best children's hospital, not due to her being more worthy. So many people in the world have to beg and work so much harder than we do to have the bare minimum in life and we all take it for granted. God bless poor Huang and that other guy in Chongqing.

P.S. I won't even go into the fact that Huang's parents spent so much time talking about the shame Huang has brought to the family, and how the eldest son should provide for them and he can't even work .....