Good Deed 2. The pot of soup.

If you want to explore ethics, forget reading theory. Go do good deeds.

I bought a pot of chicken, broccoli, and brown rice, from Pret.

I bought it for my lunch, and carried it out of the shop in the paper bag.

There was a homeless guy, in a sleeping bag, right in front of me. I went to give him the soup. But he was asleep. Do I wake him? No. Do I leave the soup for him? No. It doesn’t feel like the right thing to do. I walk on. At the office, my soup sits on the desk. I get invited out for lunch. The soup stays on my desk. At half five I bring it with me to the Square Chapel in Halifax. I’m meeting my girlfriend to see a play. I buy a pizza there, and the kind waiter wraps clingfilm around the soup tub so I can carry it more easily. We watch the play by Proper Job Theatre. It’s very good. After we go the pub. With the pot of soup. I talk with my girlfriend about good deeds, and what they are. She gives a few coins to a beggar with a dog. I consider giving the soup, but decide not to. We have a few drinks and leave for the bus. The beggar and his dog are still there. I’m starting to get hungry. We stop and chat to the beggar and his dog again. We walk on. I turn around and offer them the soup. They accept. I feel givers remorse. I wanted that soup and I gave it away. But is this what makes it a good deed. My sacrifice, or their receiving? Or both? Personally, I don’t do good deeds for my own benefit, to make me feel good. I do good deeds because it helps the recipient. 

I’m claiming back £5 for this good deed. So I can spend it on doing another.