By Yi Hee-yil
The other day on a subway train in Seoul, a healthy old man was begging money from passengers including me. I had no loose change and didn't give him any money.
That made me somewhat uncomfortable and disturbed my peace of mind. His outward appearance was of an ordinary decent old man. So why was he begging? Isn't he ashamed of himself? Doesn't he have any relatives or offspring to help support him? Did he suddenly go bankrupt due to unavoidable circumstances?
These kinds of thoughts kept occurring to me. On the one hand, I felt sorry for him, but on the other hand, I was suspicious that he might have wasted his youth and been lazy, irresponsible or prodigal, perhaps reaping what he had sown. He appeared healthy, but wasn't trying to earn a living by doing something. Together with these thoughts, images of lazy and irresponsible students came to mind.
They say, ``A sound mind in a sound body.'' But I think it should be changed to ``A sound life in a sound mind.'' I have seen quite a few people around me fail in life because of their crooked state of mind.
For instance, a friend of mine who is intelligent and healthy used to be a successful banker, but went bankrupt not because of unavoidable circumstances but because of his wayward mindset. We attended the same middle school. In those days, it was a sort of unwritten policy that a designated student collected his classmates' money and deposited it in the bank once a month on their behalf. My friend was in charge of carrying this out. Then he used up all the monthly allowance collected from his classmates and skipped the month's deposit. But no one noticed the fact because he managed the bankbooks, too.
Later when he became a banker, he lived in a boarding house. He had to wash his own underwear and socks. He felt it bothersome. So whenever he went to a public bathroom, he bought new underwear and after the bath he threw away the underwear he had worn only once. I am sure his bankruptcy resulted from such a wasteful mindset.
I read a book written by a famous billionaire. He said in the book, ``I can tell who will become rich or poor by the manner he uses the towels of a public bathroom.''
My father used to tell me, ``Great wealth depends on heaven, but modest wealth lies in industriousness and thrift.'' It is reported that the prices of oil, grain and raw materials are soaring daily, while many millions of people go to bed grabbing their empty stomachs. It is time to remember the adage, ``Many a little makes mickle.''
The writer is an English teacher at Mun Jeong High School in Seoul. He can be reached at heeil05@hanmail.net.