A Peculiar Experience
While my wife Mari shops at Trader Joe’s on Sundays, I sit outside of a local bagel place and watch the people. I even talk to some passers-by. Every now and then I fellow walks by looking for a handout. I generally carry a few bucks in plastic baggies just for this purpose. Last week a youngish looking man came bye, acting a bit embarrassed, looking around at various folks. Then he asked me for one of the baggies. He took it, looked it over without opening it, put it in his pocket, smiled and asked, “Do you have any more?”
I was quite surprised by his question but answered by smiling back and handing him another baggie. He laughed and grinned widely, said “Thanks”, and walked on. I admit I was a bit stunned by his unusual response, but it did set me to thinking. I’ve been handing out these baggies for several years and never have I had someone respond in this way. I couldn’t tell if he was surprised or a bit disappointed. I’ve been thinking about this incident for several days trying to scope the guy out.
Most guys, and it’s almost always a guy, simply mutter “thanks” and keep looking down. Some look me right in the eye and with a smile say, “Thanks a lot, buddy”. It almost seemed as if this guy was laughing at me. Perhaps he was just messin’ with me to see what I would do or say. Perhaps he was puzzled by the plastic baggie or even was a bit afraid of it. He never even opened it up while he was looking it over. Just moved on down the sidewalk.
I of course do not expect a special response from the recipients of these baggies. I used to work in a homeless shelter and know how hard it can be for such folks, especially in the winter. I know that two or three bucks isn’t going to make much difference to them in their situation, but I like to think that perhaps the contact with another person might mean a lot. Actually, occasionally I meet the same person more than once and that is always a special experience.
I do not know what I am trying to say here. It was just a very peculiar experience and has had me thinking ever since. How does it feel to beg for money? Some guys are in wheelchairs and appear to be used to asking for money. I am a bit surprised that some do not start making meeting me a regular thing. We give money to other needy causes, but this contact with a real person is something I really look forward to. I’ll let you know if this guy ever shows up again. I hope he does. If you have any thoughts about this sort of thing, please let me know. Thanks for reading.
2 responses to “”
Walking down a street in Africa was a similar adventure for me. Often the same guys came right back and asked for money seemingly with no memory of who had just given them money. A guy in Finland approached me at a bus stop and asked for money to ride the bus to get home. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a lot of change, but before I could pick out his bus fare, he slapped my hand from underneath, caught all the change in his other hand, and ran away! I could only laugh.
Yikes – it is laughable :O) But understandable. Some would have chased him, etc. I have been asked if I could make change for a bill. Puzzling but easy. Paz, jerry