Was the Altruism Worth It?

I find as I look at my blog that I have blogged about 9/11 on every September 11 since 2007.  So I might as well blog about it this year. 

Believe it or not, even though I was slightly taken aback when I heard in church last Sunday that the anniversary of 9/11 was coming up this week----since I wasn't thinking much about 9/11----9/11 was somewhere in the back of my mind even before then.  Why?  Because, when I think about the first-responders and others who helped out at Ground Zero during and right after 9/11, and I hear that a number of them are still sick (if they have not already died) as a consequence of their helping out, I become rather jaded and cynical about altruism.  Granted, I admire them for doing what they did, but was it worth it?  I have to admire the human tendency to want to jump in and help out, and I believe that such a tendency should be cultivated.  But that tendency did not help those who became sick, did it?  If I were at Ground Zero on September 11, 2001, I'd be tempted to save my own skin.

I hope that no one takes offense at what I just wrote.  I won't publish comments that put me down.  But, if anyone wants to comment as to whether they think that particular act of altruism was worth it, please feel free.  Or feel free to comment about acts of altruism in general whose costs appear to be so heavy.