Okay, gang...help me out! The last 24 hours went down something like this...
I get off the train at Belmont heading east (more clues as to my location) when this kid, couldn't have been more than twenty-four sort of starts to ask me a question. I couldn't hear him because I have taken to wearing my headphones and listening to music...the only mood altering drug I have left!
It wasn't that he was talking to me that stopped me, it was the look in his eye. Hey maybe I'm a sucker, but he wanted money...he seemed in ernest, so I didn't rightly care what he was saying he needed it for.
My hands were in the pockets of my jacket were I keep my loose change. I pulled my right hand out to reveal two dimes and a nickel, I had more, but I let fate control these things...I gave it to him and really didn't have a second thought about it. Unless you count, "I wonder if he's an SG Member?"
So, I get home and I climb the five flights (though there is an elevator) to the hallway that leads to my apartment. As I walked past the elevators, I noticed a twenty dollar bill folded and sort of crumpled on the floor. I don't hesitate to pick it up and put it in my pocket. I discovered many years ago that that is the only way to deal with "found" money...no hesitation! (I have this theory that the money you find is equal to the money you lose when all is said and done.)
Anyway, twenty bucks...by the time I reach the apartment I know that ten of it is going on the CTA pass (another clue) and ten goes for dinner the following night. Cashew Chicken from Bamee Noodle (yet another clue) is plenty for two. Of course I was going to share a portion of my new found wealth with my girl!
Twenty-four hours later...same scene, Belmont...east...headphones...this guy, he must have been seven foot tall, dressed in a nice suit and introduces himself as a professional basketball player from the Pheonix Suns (I really don't know since I don't follow sports.) He goes into this rap about taking a girl to Excaliber (clue) then to the Ritz Carlton where she slipped him a "mickey", then took off with all his money, credit cards, etc. It was a good story and went on for a bit.
So, needless to say he was asking for money. Again, I didn't really care what he needed it for...I was in the theatre for years and I like the art of it, the performance, the storytelling. Anyway I still had the twenty bucks, some change...AND a dollar that I had to fold four times so that it would stay in the money clip. So...what do you reckon I did?
I gave him the buck! But my question is this: Should I have given him the twenty?
Did I fail some cosmic test or did I just display good business sense?
I get off the train at Belmont heading east (more clues as to my location) when this kid, couldn't have been more than twenty-four sort of starts to ask me a question. I couldn't hear him because I have taken to wearing my headphones and listening to music...the only mood altering drug I have left!
It wasn't that he was talking to me that stopped me, it was the look in his eye. Hey maybe I'm a sucker, but he wanted money...he seemed in ernest, so I didn't rightly care what he was saying he needed it for.
My hands were in the pockets of my jacket were I keep my loose change. I pulled my right hand out to reveal two dimes and a nickel, I had more, but I let fate control these things...I gave it to him and really didn't have a second thought about it. Unless you count, "I wonder if he's an SG Member?"
So, I get home and I climb the five flights (though there is an elevator) to the hallway that leads to my apartment. As I walked past the elevators, I noticed a twenty dollar bill folded and sort of crumpled on the floor. I don't hesitate to pick it up and put it in my pocket. I discovered many years ago that that is the only way to deal with "found" money...no hesitation! (I have this theory that the money you find is equal to the money you lose when all is said and done.)
Anyway, twenty bucks...by the time I reach the apartment I know that ten of it is going on the CTA pass (another clue) and ten goes for dinner the following night. Cashew Chicken from Bamee Noodle (yet another clue) is plenty for two. Of course I was going to share a portion of my new found wealth with my girl!
Twenty-four hours later...same scene, Belmont...east...headphones...this guy, he must have been seven foot tall, dressed in a nice suit and introduces himself as a professional basketball player from the Pheonix Suns (I really don't know since I don't follow sports.) He goes into this rap about taking a girl to Excaliber (clue) then to the Ritz Carlton where she slipped him a "mickey", then took off with all his money, credit cards, etc. It was a good story and went on for a bit.
So, needless to say he was asking for money. Again, I didn't really care what he needed it for...I was in the theatre for years and I like the art of it, the performance, the storytelling. Anyway I still had the twenty bucks, some change...AND a dollar that I had to fold four times so that it would stay in the money clip. So...what do you reckon I did?
I gave him the buck! But my question is this: Should I have given him the twenty?
Did I fail some cosmic test or did I just display good business sense?
VIEW 7 of 7 COMMENTS
lenore:
I think the dollar was sufficient. 
einzel:
Once I gave a homeless woman about $70 because I found it on the floor at work and felt that since I didn't need it, I should just pass it on. However, I knew she was homeless--she was one of the famous beggars in the area--whereas your guy could have been making his story up, so either way, you did the right thing.