Bob has written a thoughtful post over at rednoW about compassion fatigue.

Back to this morning. What I didn’t tell you is that the dialogue between the two employees began as a small conversation about the homeless “in general” as well as a group of homeless that shows up to the coffee house on Sundays.

Somewhat interesting… but I took little to no interest in the conversation until a particular individual (she) was discussed.

Why is this?

My ears perked. I stopped what I was doing. I intently listened as now the conversation involved someone that I know. Sure, someone I know very little about; but, someone that I do know. Someone that I looked for when I pulled into the parking spot this morning next to her favorite seat. Someone who has a story. Someone who has a name.

I found the post particularly interesting because the person he’s talking about is a friend of mine. Also interesting (and I’ve not quoted it here) is the idea of how quickly we get overwhelmed with statistics. One of his examples of this is the genocide in Darfur. If you get a chance take 5 minutes to read the rest of this post.