Much is said about the golden rule and do unto others, being charitable, kind and giving but in my experience in a life of almost 45 years, I rarely get a chance to see people put their money where their mouths are. People turn their noses to the needy and destitute, seemingly not wanting to be hassled with a charitable heart. This sickens me.

I may come across as an asshole, a smart-ass, a buffoon, class clown, or any number of choice adjectives you can place before my name...it's ok, admit it, you wont bother me in the least.....I do admit to being a cut up and it is one of my greatest strengths...and if you do not agree, I have a long finger between my pointer and ring fingers dedicated to you...

Yet, despite my usually flippant attitude, I am very serious about freedom and I express it in my own way. But I digress.

I happened to be at the local gas station/food mart earlier. I was next in line to be rung up and the man in line before me was having his groceries checked out while his two kids(teens) fidgeted close by. The man then produced a plastic food stamp card to pay for his wares and the cashier processed the transaction only to discover that the man's balance was insufficient to pay the whole bill. It saddened me to see this man and his kids start to go through the bags of food, trying to determine what they could do without...ENOUGH!

I looked the man squarely in the eyes and told him, "Sir, take your groceries, I will cover your balance." He looked at me with a kind of shocked gratitude in his eyes and asked,"Really?" I told him yes, really, and then in a low voice i told him, there is no shame in needing help and there is no shame in accepting it...we all need it from time to time. I also told him that my family is on food stamps(our last month thankfully) and we are always running short. He thanked me more sincerely than I have ever been thanked for anything before, he told me he had 7 kids to feed. I told him I had four and I knew what he is saying.

Once the transaction was complete(while several other people looked on in surprise) the man handed the food to his kids and turned to me, shook my hand and thanked me again. Here I saw an opportunity...

I told the man in a loud voice that all in the store could hear, If you want this economy to turn around..vote for Ron Paul.

It is my sincerest hope that this man and all that were present will always associate goodness and charity with the name Ron Paul.

BTW: I am not trying to blow my horn but this has been my way for as long as I remember...if I see someone in need and I can help them out..consider them helped out...Peace y'all