On Monday, July 21, 2014 12:04:37 AM UTC-4, dsi1 wrote:
> On 7/20/2014 4:23 PM, Tommy Joe wrote:
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> > The Generous Mr. Chen: written about a month ago.
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> > I bought the New York Times today. $2.50, only 50 cents more than the USA Today, and triple the reading material. Every day is hit and miss. Today was a hit.
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> > There was an article that had me riveted. Very well written. I read it out loud and laughed numerous times.
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> > It took place in New York City. A Chinese multi billionaire named Chen, who in his homeland is considered a publicity hound, had placed an ad in the papers announcing he would be giving away a free meal as well as $300 to every homeless person attending his affair at the "Boathouse Restaurant".
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> > Instead of going out and finding his own homeless people, or sending his own minions to round them up, he went instead to the Rescue Mission and met with their leaders who offered him 200 of their homeless in exchange for promising to rescind his offer of $300 to each homeless person, because they might "use it on alcohol or drugs".
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> > The Rescue Mission people got a check for $90,000 from Chen for setting up the deal. They sent 200 homeless people to the boathouse restaurant where they were lead to large banquet tables draped in white tablecloths where they were greeted by tuxedoed waiters who served them their first course of the meal - "sesame-crusted tuna with asian vegetable slaw and lemon grass."
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> > Chen then appeared on the dais as tapes of him speaking played behind him. "I will give $300, as promised, for every participant today", he said as the homeless shot to their feet, whooping and applauding. Chen then launched into a version of "We Are the World". As he sang, word began spreading around the room that there would be no payment. Tension was building.
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> > Chen grabbed a microphone and announced he would keep his promise. But Mr. Mayes, who heads the Rescue Mission and had supplied Chen his own personal homeless people, appeared by Chen's side at the microphone and said, "Oh no you will not do that - giving them money is a direct violation of our contract."
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> > The crowd was getting ugly. The charismatic Chen stall-calmed them with promises.
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> > The story was a hoot and fun to read. Interviewed later, with some of the homeless still hanging around, Chen attributed the dissatisfaction of the homeless to a misunderstanding caused by the difference in culture between East and West. "In fact", he said, "next year I am going to continue my philanthropy in Africa."
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> > I have to give the guy credit. Intended or not he exposed our system's underbelly, and his reference to Africa was particularly funny because, from the pics I saw, most of the homeless who showed up were of African descent. Funny article. You have the web, look it up.
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> > TJ
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> Poor Mr. Chen! He thought he was dealing with the benevolent benefactor
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> of the homeless. My guess is that he expected that the money would be
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> distributed out by Mr. Mayes with the rest going to his good works. Mr.
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> Mayes probably thought he was getting paid to furnish warm bodies. As it
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> goes, warm bodies go for cheap in this land and my guess is Mayes would
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> have been happy with $25 a head. And the homeless would have been happy
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> with a $5 jug of T-bird for each man. Cultural differences indeed!



LOL. I think I described the article well enough, but I thought the original was well written and a joy to read. I get the papers, I don't enjoy reading off a screen. I have not yet seen a followup on the Chen article. I guess everything is back to "normal."

TJ