this morning i was running errands - going to the post office, the grocery store, etc. for some reason i decided to pop into the bank and withdraw $20. typically i will take out $100 to last me for the week. i even had money in my wallet. but something guided me to just take out $20. odd but i thought "whatever". from there i headed to my local peet's to get a cup of coffee. as i entered the store, i noticed an older man in a wheel church sitting outside of the neighboring supermarket. so on my way out, i asked him how he was doing. he had just the sweetest face. he told me he was very hungry. i asked him his name - charles. now a visual on charles - older man with weathered face, teeth worn down to tiny stumps. one leg was amputated at the knee. so, i reached into my pocket and pulled out that $20 bill for him. he looked me right in the eye and with watery eyes said "thank you so very much". he then used his one leg to push himself inside of the market.
now some people tell me they don't like giving money to homeless people. i often hear "they're just going to buy alcohol". for me, i don't care. however that gentlemen chooses to spend that $20 is his business. my exchange with him was so priceless. we made a human connection and i think it is one that charles does not experience that often. i got just as much out of this exchange as he did.
$20...it's really not that much money.
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