Suffering and Selfishness

Since class on Tuesday I have been thinking a lot about our discussion on "Musee des Beaux Arts" and how one of the things that Auden is trying to communicate to the reader is that people are too busy to notice if someone is suffering around them. I think that this is true. Everyone needs to go along with their lives. Like we pointed out in class, if we stop to help every single person who is suffering nothing would get done. Everyone would always suffer and we wouldn't progress in our lives. We would pretty much just be stuck in a sad depressing world. During this discussion in class I was thinking of another meaning that Auden could've had in his poem. I'm sure that there are several different ways to interpret it, and I thought that maybe Auden was also trying to say that people are just plain selfish, and that we need to take the time to at least help one person out. I don't know, it just seems that the world we live in now is based on an individual's selfishness. I kind of look at it from a corporate point of view. There are some people who will do anything to get a higher paying job, or have a position with more power. I just seem to hear more stories of that nature than anything else, but I don't believe that every single person is like that. There are tons of good people around. But there are many people who are so busy and engulfed in themselves and their goals that it is so easy for them to ignore others and possibly hurt them intentionally or unintentionally. It's not like you need to stop and help every single person you notice suffering, but wouldn't you find life to be more fulfilling knowing that you took the time to stop and help at least one person? An act of kindness could go a long way and mean so much to that one person. I don't know this idea just kind of hit me cause I recently had a talk with my friend, and he is going through a really tough time. I didn't do much but cry with him and listen to him vent. He told me the next day that it meant a lot to him that I sacrificed some of my time to sit and listen, and I felt better knowing that I actually helped him.

Anyway, those are just my random thoughts on the discussion...