Is what a guy sitting on one of the metal bridges that span the Chicago River said to me this morning.
It is 8 degrees with somewhere around 10 below wind chill in Chicago today and this guy is sitting on a metal bridge.
After all these years of working down here – I don’t fall for giving money to homeless dudes or dudettes – I have been scammed by the best over the years (Hedyblog readers know how I feel about that) – so I make it a rule to not give out money. But I have been known to give out food (some great stories for a later blog).
This guy though had no gloves on.
Bare hands.
I stopped and immediately told him I was not giving him money – but I asked if he had any gloves. He said “No.”
Fortunately for him while shopping at my Jewel this week I picked up 3 pairs of those little magic stretch gloves - .33 cents each and shoved a pair in my work bag.
Metal bridge homeless guy at least now has warmer hands. “Pay it forward” is what I should have said to him before I left. Hopefully he will.
swill
4 comments:
What makes us want to give him gloves one day....but the next day you want to yell at him..."Get a frickin job!" ...????
I hope his butt doesn't sweat he may permanently be sitting on that bridge :)
Dilf - I use to be cut from that same kind of cloth. My church had us cooking for the homeless once a month - where I, as a single mom, would go out and spend a good deal of money making a huge quantity of food and be frustrated to be helping out "freeloaders"....until a friend asked me to go to the shelter and serve the food. He said that a majority of the people that the shelter cared for were mentally unstable. Years ago the funding for the "nut houses" got cut and so they had to let the patients out to fend for themselves. Yes, some have learned to work the system, but I would still like to think that most are incapable of helping themselves out.
clout
You did a kind thing. Whether or not the guy actually needed gloves is irrelevant. :)
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