Refuse to See

I'm reading a book by Julie Salamon called Rambam's Ladder: A meditation on Generosity and Why it is Necessary to Give.  In it, she tells a story of riding the subway with her daughter.  She is seated next to two young, white men and an older black man with a cane.  An elderly couple is also riding the train, "and they didn't appear to be all that hardy." 

Salamon asks the two young men sitting next to her if they would give their seats to the elderly couple.  The two men glanced at the older couple and ignored them.  The older, seated man, started to stand up.  "Not you," (Salamon) said.  "I meant them," and pointed at the other two men.

The men looked perplexed, but finally stood up for the older couple to take a seat.  Having seen what had happened, another woman said, "Bravo....It always amazes men when they do that....Refuse to see."

Salamon, in her experience, thinks it is the most privileged who are "the most insular."

I know there are times when I do that - refuse to see.  Maybe I walk to the other side of the street, or I hope my car doesn't get stopped next the man with the sign asking for money, or ignore the people standing on the train who could use my seat.  It's easier on my selfish side if I refuse to see. 

Don't you think refusing to see is harder on our spiritual side? On our growth toward perfection? I need to open my eyes more.