Ball point pens or tissues anyone?

This morning I was in New Town PJ having breakfast. I was at my favorite prawn mee stall located in a corner coffee shop, near one of the banks. Before my food came, a youngish man came along selling ball point pens. I recognized him. He has come up to me before and the last time I did buy a packet of five pens from him. I can still remember that time. I was in a bookshop and at first I turned him down. But I noticed that the other customers there also turned him down and finally, I went up and bought a packet. That was several months ago. And the other day, I discovered the packet lying in a drawer, with three pens left! This young man, I perceive, has a slight mental disability. If I remember correctly, he said something about selling pens to earn money for his medication. He is trying to earn an honest living and my heart goes out to him. But what will I do with so many ball point pens? I told him I still had pens left at home. Then, I began to notice how the other customers at the coffee shop responded to him. Some politely said 'No', while others refused to even look at him, waving their hands to brush him off as he approached them. For a moment I really wished I had more use for those pens. I would surely 'help' him by buying a packet or two.
There is another man, a 'regular' in New Town, who sits outside HSBC bank and sells tissue packets. He has been around for many years. He is blind and is brought there every morning by a young man (probably his son), to his usual spot near the door of the bank. In years past, he used to stand up but more recently he sits on the floor. As customers walk in and out, he calls out to them, asking them to help him by buying a packet of tissues. In the past, I have bought tissues from him. But how many packets of tissues can one buy on a regular basis? Today, I was at the bank early and he was not there yet. Lately, I have noticed how he seems much older and may have lost some weight. And in time, he will not be strong enough to sit there all day.
These are the images that I came back with. Images of human beings whose lives are filled with many challenges. Yet these are people who seem to accept, patiently enduring their lot in life and carry on as best they know how. I am touched by their simple response to life's difficulties. It is not 'pity' or a condescending attitude that they need. And I need not feel 'guilty' if I cannot buy their pens and tissues every time I meet them. But perhaps their very presence tells us something about life. Perhaps our inner reactions to such people tell us something about ourselves.

O Lord, open our hearts that we may see others as you see them, so that especially through the poor and marginalized, we are invited to greater compassion.