no good samaritan (wannabe) goes unsoiled
every so often, i hit the drive-thru for a bagel en route to work. usually only when i don’t leave myself with enough time to down my 4am breakfast but i (miraculously) find enough coins in my pocket to exchange for a morning morsel. this was one of those mornings.
from time to time at my bagel stop, there are early risers with no particular place to go who like to give drivers an opportunity for generosity before they roll up their window and drive away. i’m not a fan of giving money to feed habits instead of stomachs, so most times i’m well on my way down the road before i think, “i could have at least bought him a coffee for a rare warm kickstart to his long and listless day.”
then i get to work and all is forgotten.
today, however, i noticed a fellow who looked quite eager to provide such an opportunity … and decided to buy a double double for him to enjoy. but no sooner had i paid for the cup o’ joe than i realized said fellow had disappeared. in protest, perhaps, if he likes his coffee black.
so there i was, stuck with a coffee i didn’t want (poor me), with co-workers who already had their brews in hand … nothing to do but drink it down. but the flip tab wouldn’t stay flipped. then (trying to fix that little problem) i crushed the lid in so it was lopsided. and (even though i was being ultra careful) then came the inevitable spill of double double on dry pants.
that’s what i get for trying to be a good guy. will i buy the coffee for a guy next time? i’m still thinking about it … would you?
oh, by the way. it was a rrrroll up the rim cup … and (even though i never win) i rolled it up and won … a free coffee.
As soon as it was evident that you would be drinking it, I wondered what the rim would tell you.
As for “would I”…it depends. I have been known to be generous on the streets, both to obviously perpetual panhandlers and also to people who have seemed to just be momentarily down on their luck. I’ve found mixed reactions to generosity (and the lack of it) and I’m not sure what my general policy on spontaneous generosity is anymore. Currently it’s just that — spontaneous.
On a related note, I came across my first “aggressive panhandler” the other night in this city — and I spend a majority of my time downtown.