Excess vs Need

I am nauseous.


I just watched the video of a tour through Donald Trump's private jet which cost $100 million dollars.  The fixtures, including the seat belt clips, are plated with 24 K gold.


Yesterday I stopped in a drugstore to pick up a travel size tube of toothpaste for my husband.  A young black girl stood in front of the sanitary napkins with a sale brochure and a few coins in her hand.  She asked me for a dollar to help her buy what she needed.  After I gave it to her, I realized that what she had was still inadequate, and that she was planning to beg from other women who entered that aisle until she had enough.  I gave her the rest of the money.
She looked astonished and said, "You didn't have to do that."


I thought of her repeatedly throughout the day, and when I woke up this morning.  I thought that I should have asked her if there was anything else she needed.  I wondered where her mother was.  Was there no adult in her life who cared for her needs?  My heart was aching.


Having watched the video of The Donald's ridiculous and ostentatious excess, I now have nausea in addition to the ache.