Panhandling

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Last night I saw what I consider a bad example of panhandling.
As my wife and I ate dinner at the small hole in the wall Chinese place
where I am the Noodleman, a guy walked by with a bag from the Wendy’s next
door.
He stood in front of the Chinese place while he ate his burger and fries.
Then, he came in and threw the bag and drink up in the Chinese places trash
can, and used their bathroom.
Then, we went back to standing out front.  When we came out he told me he
really needed some money for dinner and asked if I could help.
This confused me.
You eat your dinner in front of me, then tell me you can’t afford it?
Last I knew, Wendy’s doesn’t let you run up a tab.  So, I don’t think he
was expecting a visit from the burger bruisers to get their value meal
money.
And, while I appreciate he didn’t just toss his trash on the ground, why go
into a different restaurant to throw out your trash and use the bathroom?
That’s just impolite.
But, I did give him $.35.  He seemed disappointed by that.

That disappointment also confuses me some.  They had more than they did
before.  Not much, but still more.

I remember being in LAX once for a flight to China.  You know that the
airport has a lot of people asking for money when there are announcements
in the terminal saying “the airlines do not support requests for charity
and remind passengers they are under no obligation to make donations.”
As I headed to my gate, a guy came up to me.
“I’m collecting money for AIDS research,” he said.  “Can you make a
donation?”
I gave him $2.
“The donation is supposed to be $20,” he said to me.  “Please give me the
other $18.”
“You have a choice,” I told him.  “You can take the $2 I willingly gave
you, or I can take it back because it doesn’t meet your standards.”
He gave me a dirty look and walked off with my $2.

When I was in Shanghai I spent on night walking up and down the main
shopping road of the city.  At one of the lunches I had been taken to, I
found a kind of nut I really liked.  I couldn’t manage the name, so they
had written the symbol down for me and I found a shop that sold them.
I bought a fairly big bag, and walked along the road eating them.
A small child came up to me.
“Mister, I’m hungry,” he said.
“Here, have some nuts!” I said.  I pulled an handful out and held them out
to him.
“I’m hungry for dinner!” he said.
“This is what I’m having for dinner,” I said, still holding out the nuts.
“You are supposed to give me money!” he said.
“Why?”
“Because I told you I was hungry!”
“And, I offered you the same food I am eating,” I said.
“That’s not how it works!”
“Do you want the nuts or not?” I said.
He gave me a dirty look and ran off into the crowd.
I might have had more sympathy except it was a kid in the rich part of town
who spoke English as well as I did and did not look underfed.
But,  I bet it worked on a lot of tourists.
I was told many times when growing up that I should be thankful for my food
because people were starving in China.
But, they still won’t take those nuts from me.

Comments

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They were really good nuts.
I've never been able to find them here. But, the fact I can't remember the name doesn't help.