Sunday, September 16, 2007

In a coffeeshop, on a corner

A few nights ago, I was sitting inside a coffeeshop downtown.

Outside, in front of the garbage bin, was a panhandler, trying desperately to get a bit of rest while he sat unassumingly with a cup between his legs.

He knew that people would snub him as they walk past, ignoring his sign that asked for spare change for this "unemployable" man.

I sat in the coffeeshop, reading the papers and sipping on my tea, catching up on some paperwork, all the while keeping an eye out for him.

For most of the hour and a half I sat there, only one person put any change in his cup. A few people stopped or cocked their necks as they passed. Most people walked by without even noticing him, as though he were somebody else's problem.

A man in a sweater came by and left a paper bag in the resting man's lap. The bag likely held a sandwich or a bagel.

The panhandler looked up and thanked the man. The man waved back and smiled, then each returned to what they had been doing.

I walked up to the man in the sweater. I thanked him, too.

- RG>

3 comments:

Unknown said...

How delightful! Write a book. I urge you, write a book. Just like that post, each a different chapter. Not funny, not amusing, just life put in that simplistic, pure form as you had it in that post. It was completely brilliant! Maybe a little longer, and written in a story with the main character with an interesting job like private investigator or someone with a boring office job. But If written like that, and the book set up about an amusing character, then you've got yourself a book. Have you ever considered? Go for it!

Marblehead Johnson said...

I actually got yelled at for offering a panhandler food when I explained I didn't have any money... money which he asked me for so he could, ostensibly, buy food.

Still, not everyone is like that, and not everyone is like that fellow outside the coffee shop... and not everyone is like the man in the sweater.

You're a good writer. I just came here to get your MSN.

RealGrouchy said...

Thanks for the comments. FYI, MSN and other instant messengers are the work of the devil. I have enough distractions as it is.

- RG>