The true Christmas spirit of giving

THE EDITOR: There is some guy or lady at the Debe Regional Corporation, or some such organisation, who truly has an aesthetic eye, or, to put in layman’s terms, who likes to see things look “nice,” as evidenced by the beautiful creative signs on street corners in the Palmiste area, Phillipine. In Sunkist Development where I live, that eye for things looking nice went a bit further in the adornment of the signpost at the entrance with an arrangement of lovely shrubs and flowers in a bed of red mulch encircled by a neatly laid-out band of rubber to keep the arrangement in place. This is uniquely refreshing for me, for the general impression created is that workers from such government organisations are generally restricted to completing the two-hour day's work with little focus on the end product. But this seemed a beautiful exception to the rule. Of course, someone had to spoil it by dropping a beer bottle in the midst of the lovely design, but thankfully not to damage the floral arrangement. However, it could have been worse with one not so civic-minded seeing the shrubs and flowers better suited to their own home situation, as many have done to the Palmiste Park nearby, carting away, piece by piece, the latticed wooden fence around, in some instances providing an opportunity for people to park on the lush green grass leaving it permanently ugly. You cant’give some in the public an aesthetic sense or some element of civic consciousness when there is nothing in their mental framework to accommodate such. Which is why the action of the worker from the corporation, or some such, is unique, for at this time of giving at Christmas, that act could not have taken a more beautiful turn. For when self is often at the centre of much of what we do, his selfless service seems to spring from something finer in the human character, wanting to give without the hope of any reward, simply knowing that others will be satisfied, as against the often ostentatious generosity which is typical of this season. Dr ERROL NARINE BENJAMIN via e-mail The post The true Christmas spirit of giving appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.