The Act and Art of Giving

One of my more interesting talents is that I can see into people's lives by studying their financial data. Give me your checkbook register or your monthly bank statement and I'll tell you all about your so called private life. I developed this gift while working for the Internal Revenue Service. While quickly editing 500 to 600 income tax returns every evening I began to see people, families, stories through the stream of numbers on the forms in front of me. Last year I started doing individual tax returns at home and with the taxpayers sitting in front of me I did not see but felt the constitution of their hearts. This was an act of knowing.

At the IRS I had a coworker sitting catty-corner to my cubicle. She was a young mother trying to pick up extra income for her growing family by working the night shift at this government agency. She was quite good at her job despite working all day long as a teaching assistant at her kid's school for a pitiful minimum wage. She said she got home from the teaching job at four p.m. took an hour nap, cooked dinner for the family then drove the 60 miles to Kansas City to make her 7 p.m. starting time at the agency. A seven p.m. start got you out of there at 3:30 in the morning. Another hour to drive home and maybe you get 2 hours sleep before getting the kids up and yourself off to school. During the busy season she worked every hour of overtime available, therefore eschewing sleep of any duration. This woman was a good Christian, didn't even drink coffee, no chance of cringe or other accelerants but she always looked alert and did her job with an upbeat attitude.

Sarah's one pet peeve was seeing the income tax returns of wealthy or comfortable taxpayers that gave no money to charity. She would become livid at the pikers. Sarah tithed to her church, gave all that she could to charity and her time as a teaching assistant was more a gift to the kids than a source of income. When she would get extremely worked up over a perceived ungenerous taxpayer I would ask her to throw me the return. Sometimes I'd spot an excuse within the numbers; illness, old age, gambling addiction, signs of dysfunction or financial stress. Sometimes I'd toss the return back with, "This guy's a cheap son of a bitch." I'd warn her, "Few are as good as you. Remember to be generous in your attitude toward sinners."

Last year I would not charge any taxpayer a fee when I saw they were suffering from the economic downturn. A cataclysm of greed should be met with a modicum of generosity. Hell yes, I needed the money but this small gesture was something I could do.

In this exceedingly, increasingly corrupt world generosity shrinks with our love of and worries about money. Who is not on the take? What's your selling point? I worry that the Bogojevich and New Jersey stories will enhance and promulgate the long standing models of corruption because they reaffirm that these practices are historical and engrained in the political fabric of our country. As long as influence peddlers walk the streets of Washington throwing money the powers of the People are diminished.

The only thing I learned from a youth steeped in Catholicism was a few encouraging words about good works. Even if you are poor you can be kind and polite. Even if you are without you can offer a hand and help. It may be as simple as a kind word or helping an old woman with her groceries or spending your day off with a hospice case. Being generous is as addictive as cocaine or meth, it opens your brain to a flood of dopamine and you will have a feeling of euphoria. To continue the high all it takes is to be good, attentive and giving. Even though this drug is virtually free I have many doubts about sales.