so this past week, on a particularly longass day, we were on a train, and a bum, well, bumrushed us. and we thought well this is great, just great. he's gonna like knife us or pull out a gun or something. like our day wasn't sheety enough to begin with. but instead he began a pseudo-president's address, bum-style:
"hello my fellow passengers on this here train.
i am askin' you to help me out. i am not a bad man.
i am a good man. i would do anything for anyone.
i got no one lookin' out for me and i'm not even
gonna have a christmas this year. please, will
you help me. please. please will you help me?
i'm getting down on my knees. please. i am
the most beautifullest person on this planet
i would help anybody. please."
then he got down on his knees right next to our train seat. our anxiety skyrocketed as we sat comfortably in our warm winter coat. his was tattered. our ipod on, tunes playing. he carried a plastic bag of belongings. our shopping bags surrounded us. a stench surrounded him.
so we handed him a five. he took it with his one free hand, the other was stuffed with several unlucky lottery tickets.
so maybe he was going to buy more lottery tickets. maybe he was going to buy more of his DOC. heck maybe he was going straight to the bank to deposit it into his savings account. all we know is that every once in a while whether it's provoked by fear or some random bout of civilian concern, we can't help but help a beggin' bum out. and a little part of us always thinks that somewhere along the line- that was somebody's baby. somebody's cousin. somebody's friend. and that thought burns a hole in our heart. so we spare when we can. and along the way we occasionally run into some interesting folks. like The Most Beautifullest Person In The World! who knew he'd be on a train on the south side of chicago? cool.
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3 comments:
I love this post, because I always give money to bums. I know my money is not probably going to change their ways or better his over existence as a bum, but I don't care it makes them happy. It is like when Josh or P cleans the house for me, just because they gave the gift of CLEAN does it mean I am going to change my dirty ways, no but it sure makes me happy!Plus it is a pretty cheap way to feel good if you think about it in comparison to all the other many many ways we spend money to feel good. The only people on this planet that get excited by my left over quarters from my over priced Starbucks coffee are bums, Petra(she really likes coins), and maybe a four year old, but even that last one I'm not so sure anymore(these days kids get like a 20 bill from the freakin toothfairy). I mean he wants to spend that dollar on a lil lotto then by God I hope and pray he wins, and if he wants to spend it on a bottle of rubbing alcohol by God I hope he doesn't drink too much and wind up blind. It should not matter what they spend your money on it makes them happy, and even though they might not deserve our change, no one deserves to have no one there to make them smile.
-Hales
I don't know what I enjoy more...the original post or Haley's response to it. Right on sistas!
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I really like both of these posts. Especially what Hales said "no one deserves to have no one there to make them smile". Definitely words to live by.
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