Are we hoarding our good works in case we get a overwhelming urge to be kind to strangers or neighbors before next Christmas rolls in?

Do we have a max amount of caring allowed in one year and don't want to use all our 'caring credits' up?

I couldn't believe what I read in the Citizen and heard on CFRA today.

First of all, and most serious, is the death of a frail 67 yr-old Toronto woman. Not a typical situation - this one. She literally froze to death a block or so from her home, in a suburban neighborhood, with neighbors and people near by hearing her calling for help.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Toronto+woman+froze+death+block+from+home/4120051/story.html

This is horrible! Considering that 2 people admitted they heard her crying for help - which probably means 10 more heard her, but won't admit it - and did nothing. No - not true, they did something - they went back to sleep!

This isn't a case where someone could be a dangerous offender - she was a 67 year-old woman for gosh sakes. It's not like someone could have let her into their home to warm up and she would have turned into Freddy Krueger.

Admittedly, those hearing her calling for help might have assumed a bunch of old people were having a party or drinking (see story), but now really - who would believe that?

Here's another example of generous human nature lately:

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/922853--boy-recalls-terror-as-friend-dangled-from-ski-lift

How can anyone be so obnoxious to tell a 13 year old boy, who was obviously in peril and asking for help, to tell him "You gotta pull yourself up." Can anyone see themselves in this situation and doing nothing about it? The two adults who could have helped were obviously healthy young men, they were on a ski lift going for a down-hill run.

This is Canada, we pride ourselves on our peacekeeping, on our kindness and generosity, yet not calling 9-1-1 to report an old lady calling for help, or to ignore a dangling 13 year old 30-40 feet in the air??? How callous have Canadians become? We pat ourselves on the back as our soldiers go off to keep the peace across the world, but we can't even be civil in our own backyard?

This really gets to me. I see self-centred people like this every day - so caught up in their own lives - that the rest of the world doesn't exist.

And there are many more horror stories like these. As I was googling websites looking for additional details, I found dozens of similar stories, most without this horrific ending - thank God.

Take a minute - remember the "Good Samaritan", and make sure we never become as cold blooded as those who passed him by! Donating to charity at Christmas is great, but doesn't make up for inaction!

If we are going to live in a world of our making, lets start making it a better world!