Selfish

I realized today how selfish I am. I am ashamed. My office currently is in very close proximity to the "bad area" of town. On my way to work today I had to stop for gas in the very bad area of town. I never stop at or in this area. Every town has that area. Anyways, I was on high alert. BTW what is up with the gas prices at the bad area being so high. I could not believe it. The gas was like 10 cents higher. As I was saying..I went into the shop to get a Krispy Kreme donut (drool now) and my coffee. As I was walking out I noticed that I kept my eyes straight ahead. When I say straight ahead...I mean straight ahead. Lo and behold this gentlemen walks by me and smiles at me. Did I see the smile..no..rather I saw the sign in his hand asking for money. Did I return his smile? No...Did I hear him wish me a blessed day. No..not until I got into my car did I realize his greeting... what a mistake I made. How can I claim to want and be upset with poverty when I cannot respond to a poor individual at the gas station. How can I teach Kiley to be compassionate when I cannot show compassion to an individual by wishing him a good morning. I know we have to be aware of our surroundings but we must be compassionate. So how do we draw the line.