like minty, i have a favorite homeless newspaper salesmen.
the first time i spotted him he was standing in the median at club and gregson, near the mall.
well, no... he wasn't standing. he was jumping. jumping up and down, excitedly, with a newspaper over his head. he was shouting, "neeeewspaper!! neeeeewspaper!!"
he was silly. you could see the smile on his face from a mile away. he put a smile on my face, too. from his voice (and, frankly, his jumping style) i suspected he was gay. i wondered how that might affect his life on the streets.
i saw him there for a week or two, but i was always going the wrong direction. i was never able to stop to buy a paper from him. (not that i ever buy the paper... i guess i just wanted to help him and reward his enthusiasm.) but then he was gone. someone else --someone grumpy-- took his place, and i always wondered what happened to the happy man.
he has finally reappeared. he's now on my morning commute, at the corner of geer and avondale. there's a stop sign right there (which is much better than a stoplight, as far as newspaper sales goes, i would think) and though he's not there every morning, i see him often enough that i actually look forward to catching a glimpse of him as i trundle down the street towards his intersection.
a week ago i figured he'd given me enough smiles that i should pony up. i rolled down my window, pulled a dollar from my wallet and handed it to him, saying "i don't need a paper... but you keep this. take care of yourself." he smiled so big at me i thought his face might split in two.
on friday he was there, too, but i didn't have a dollar on me. as i drove by i caught his eye and smiled. he smiled back.
i saw him again this morning and i held a dollar out the window for him. i said, once again, that i didn't need a paper. he took the money, then leaned down so that his face was about a foot from mine. when he smiled i saw that his teeth were dingy. he patted my arm as it hung out the window, and with that wide grin he said, "oh, bless your heart! thank you!"
i need to stock up on dollar bills, i think. our little interactions give me such a warm feeling.
but the thing that gets under my skin is that i have never given any other of the homeless newspaper guys any money at all. they need it just as bad as the happy guy, i'm sure. but they're not happy, so i just ignore them.
Posted by xta at August 3, 2005 02:44 PM | TrackBackOh, I love this story! "but they're not happy, so i just ignore them."--What a great sentence! I kind of want to go give the happy guy a dollar myself. I really admire his ability to be happy in his situation. I've gone through less with not nearly as much class...
Posted by: Susan at August 3, 2005 07:32 PMWell, Christa, you're a better woman than me--I've never given *any* of the newspaper guys, even the one I liked so much, a dollar!
Posted by: minty at August 3, 2005 10:35 PMI have a favorite homeless change-wanting-guy at the freeway onramp near my house. I usually give him a dollar and he says the same thing every day I give him cash:
"What am I, chopped livah!?"
He's awesome. And as per Section 2, Paragraph 3.4 of the homeless onramp beggar code, he has an adorable dog, too.
Posted by: Pauly D at August 3, 2005 11:45 PMThis reinforces my theory that if you are having a bad time of it, pretend to be happy and things wil get better ...
Posted by: Lisa B at August 4, 2005 08:54 AMhe was there this morning, too. today i asked him what his name was. it's doug. which i probably could have figured out myself if i had just read his orange safety vest... he had written "mr. doug" on it. duh.
Posted by: christa at August 4, 2005 02:13 PM