Help?
I was on my way into work, like any other day. I was fighting with the metro and red line single tracking, like any other day. I got to my stop early, and was thinking of what to do to kill 20 minutes.
Generally when I'm early, I start looking around for the nearest coffee shop and think longingly of lemonade on a hot day. I'm trying to stick to a budget, so today I ignored my daydreams of sweet and refreshing drinks and headed for the Starbucks.
Ummmm Caitie.......that makes less than no sense..........
Seems a little counter-intuitive, no? Going to a coffee shop that I frequently complain about because of its ridiculous pricing, and I'm trying to stick to a budget. Yeah, I know. But the nice thing about Starbucks? I can order a cup of ice water. No money, no hassle, just a cup of water. And having to walk past work and stand in line for it would definitely kill time. So I headed off.
I was literally passing the front door of my building when a guy stopped me. Surprised me, really, since I had my headphones in and was kinda focused on getting to the Starbucks without melting from the heat. The guy tried to force a small bouquet of flowers into my hand, but kept eyeing my purse. He then followed it up by asking for change because he was homeless, but his eyes kept straying back to my purse which, on a work day, looks overly stuffed from the jackets and cardigans and my lunch being packed into it (work is cold and I gotta eat).
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Yeah. Not so charming in real life
So what to do. This made me incredibly nervous. By the time you reach my building, the number of people thin out a bit. This guy was easily 20-30 years older than me and probably stronger - I am a wimp, I admit it. He was close enough he could make a grab for my bag.
Help help help what do I do?????
However, the guy literally picked flowers out of the flowerbeds in front of my building to offset the fact that he was asking for spare change. This gave me an idea.
My dad used to tell stories of my uncle. My uncle is a man who likes to laugh and cook good food and joke around. He is the comic relief of the family and makes everyone smile. My cousins even called him "Uncle Wacko" when we were little because we thought he was so silly and just a little bit crazy. And one of the stories my dad would tell of his little brother was that my uncle wouldn't give money to the homeless when he could get them a coffee or something to eat instead.
The homeless man with the ragged bouquet of flowers was quite taken aback when I said no, I don't have any spare change on me, but how about I buy you lunch? I don't think anyone's ever done that to him. So I steered us back to the nearby Au Bon Pain (and a group of more people, to make me feel safer) and took him inside.
By now, this guy had stopped staring at my bulging purse and became quite shy. He kept mumbling that no thanks, he didn't want anything to eat, no thanks, but maybe something to drink? I gestured to the rows of coffee pots in various flavors, to the tea, to the soda and told him to take his pick. He shuffled over and grabbed a sprite. The moment I paid for it, he was out the door with another shy thanks. By the time I got my change and left, he was gone.
Good deed for the day and crisis averted. Now back to work.
