This one really speaks for itself.  This young boy is out in the cold, the only one without a coat.  Standing on the street corner freezing trying to make a daily wage selling bad news.  Watching as older, and should be responsible adults walking by in their warm expensive coats as if he didn't exist.  Of course this was a part of normal everyday life back in the early 1800's.  The people here probably wouldn't have given him a second thought.  And there are so many similar situations going on today.  

While painting this picture I was reminded of a friend of mine.  A few years ago her dad went on a hunting trip with his son and a friend.  While out in a boat in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness there was an accident and one of the guns went off.  Shooting her dad in the leg.  They did what they could for her dad.  They contacted who they could and waited for help.  Three hours later a motor boat passed them.  The group asked the man on the motor boat to take them to the nearest town.  They told him they had a man with a gunshot wound that was in bad condition.   The man on the motor boat said no.  Because he was in a hurry to get somewhere.  A few hours later the helicopter finally arrived to take the injured man to the hospital.  He died on the way there.  

I think sometimes we (myself included) get so caught up in what we are doing and what we think is important that small acts of kindness towards other people is all but forgotten.  Even small things.  Like slowing down when someone on the road is trying to pass, taking the shopping cart back to the designated area instead of leaving it in the parking lot after you unload groceries.  Over time I think we really become immune to the people and situations around us and a lot of things just go unnoticed, just like the boy in this painting.