The students of Indiana Wesleyan University fill the seats of the campus chapel every Wednesday at 10:00 am for student worship. But today, thanks to the president of the residential campus, Dr. Keith Newman, things were a little different.
“He asked the lady to go and order pizza. At first I thought we were all going to get pizza, but then as he began to talk about it, he revealed that he would be bringing the guy on stage, and we were going to bless him with an offering.”
THE REST.
So if I did this but kept the tip for myself and said this was a lesson learned for students, would that also fly?
ReplyDeleteI want to know who "the lady" was. She seems to be the key to this whole mystery.
ReplyDeleteIf I were the pizza guy, I'd be like, "3000 students and $1200 is the best you could do? Most of them got spare laptops worth more than that. I don't get up on no stage so you all can feel like you got to 'fix' me for less than ten large. Of course I 'matter'; why would you think I need you to tell me that? But for five G, I'll grade your little notes for spelling, grammar, and impact. Compared to what you pay your adjuncts, that's a bargain, right? Right?"
Very odd, and more than a bit disturbing. I think it's the connection of money and blessing that is bothering me most. Well, that and the fact that they apparently made no attempt whatsoever to find out what the pizza delivery guy might most need and want from his fellow humans, but instead seem to have cast him as a random representative of "the poor," or "the working man," or something. As it turns out, he apparently shares the students', and school's, faith, but what if he'd been of another faith? This strikes me as almost as bad as making people sit through a sermon before they get fed at a soup kitchen; yes, you're doing good, but you're not really respecting the image of God in the other person.
ReplyDeleteCassandra, you have captured my misgivings about this scenario. My second reaction was, "well,l OK, they gave him some money and he appreciated it," but my first reaction was, how is this different from shooting at some guy's feet and telling him to dance because it amuses you? (I remember some old movies with scenes like that.) He dances because what else can he do?
DeleteThe idea that they would consider 'the pizza man, any pizza man' as a ready stand-in for 'someone in obvious need of our intervention' made me barf in my mouth a bit when I read the story. Of course, we must allow that our perception has been shaped by the quotes the writer chose to include, which are not necessarily a complete or even representative account.
That's so creepy - I would be afraid to take the money.
ReplyDeleteWait..3000 students and 2 pizzas? I feel something amazing is getting ready to happen.
ReplyDeleteOr, not.
Prof Pangloss, Jesus stuck his fingers in the cheese and the pizzas became Chinese buffet for thousands. I'm surprised you didn't know that.
ReplyDelete