Darren Roache
Sunday, April 23, 2017
I remember the days when men like John "Gas Bag" Ryan used to sit on walls at the side of the road and reason with the boys on the block.
As a young man, I remember one such discussion held. If my memory serves me correctly, it was on a wall on George Street, just above the Old Glendon Hospital on Montserrat. I believe the time period was early, post Hurricane Hugo.
What I can recall of this conversation is Mr Ryan telling another gentleman;
"I am not a mendicant!"
Mr Ryan continued to explain to the uninformed individual that a mendicant was a beggar, and that he, John Ryan, begged no one for anything.
So impressed was I by the nature of the conversation that I went home and looked up the word mendicant.
Interestingly, this word has stuck with me over the years, and every time I hear it or use it, I think back to Mr Ryan's conversation.
The following description of a mendicant was taken from Wikipedia.
A mendicant (from Latin: mendicans, "begging") is one who practices mendicancy (begging) and relies chiefly or exclusively on charitable donations to survive. In principle, mendicant religious orders do not own property, either individually or collectively, and members have taken a vow of poverty, in order that all their time and energy could be expended on practicing or preaching and serving the poor. It is a form of asceticism. Asceticism is characterised by a lifestyle of abstinence from worldly pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals.
This description of mendicancy is synonymous with spiritual pursuit and enlightenment. However, most modern day references to the word mendicant, that I have come across, are neither favourable nor magnanimous. The cusp of Mr Ryan's argument at the source of discontent was that the individual neither had the desire, nor wished to put the effort into progressing himself, but rather preferring to sit back and curry favours with those around him. Rather than waiting for opportunities to arise, Mr Ryan professed to be adept at creating his own opportunities, and he proudly professed this when he continued his oration.
"Do you know what a mendicant is? A beggar! I do not beg!"
The modern day allusion to the spirit of mendicancy is synonymous with one that fosters a mentality of "gimme gimme" as opposed to, "this is what I can offer, what will you give me for it?" When thinking of a mendicant in this light, they are lower even than prostitutes.
Mendicants are also typical of people who take from a society but put nothing back into it. They make bad servants and even worst leaders. As servants, they are likened unto lap dogs, only hanging around for their next meal, but would be the first to abandon their "master's" house in times of trouble, or at the prospect of a better meal elsewhere.
As leaders, they have neither prospects nor vision. They lack the ability to instil worth in those they profess to lead, having ascended to power on the back of promises that they either could not, or had no intentions of fulfilling.
Some may be tempted to say that some of these individuals may initially have had good intensions. But when faced with the enormity of the task they faced, and lacking the foresight and visions to tackle it, the only recourse to them was to resort to begging; mendicancy.
Perhaps worst is when the mendicant is also a narcissist. This leads such a person to be unmoved in his belief that his mendicancy is an entitlement. What you will hear is that "I can beg for this because this is my right."
Unfortunately, this type of help usually results in conditions that would plunge one into deeper despair. The narcissistic mendicant will not recognise this, in the belief that his way is right, and all who challenge him otherwise are the enemy.
But let us not vilify helping others or receiving help with no desire to exact repayment. I believe in helping people with a view of them getting back to maintaining themselves and not necessarily expecting a repayment in kind. It is more desirable as well to teach a people to fish, to fend for themselves, as opposed to continually giving fish and having them become addicted to the freebie.
Mr Ryan's conversation rests with me to this very day. I trust that my assessment of the gentleman rings true, and if at any time that I should find myself in a state of need, that he may accommodate me when I approach him and say:
"Mr Ryan, I am broke, and I need a job. I am an engineer. Do you have any work that I can do for you that you can pay me for?"
