I have a confession to make, and no, I am not a cold-hearted bitch. As a rule, I really get quite annoyed at all the people on the streets begging for money with their little homemade signs. I have read too many articles about it all being fraud....and apparently a decent way to make money. And I do know that there are exceptions to this....but unfortunately there is no way to really weed out the good and bad. So I choose to assume that most of those folks are full-of-it.
Ahhhh, there are always exceptions to the rules...and I have found my exception.
The Exception comes in the form of an older black man, probably 5'7", about 150 pounds with a long gray beard. Like most "median panhandlers", I knew he was there...because I saw him everyday on the same median on the same street intersection (the corner of Cone Blvd and Battleground Ave - for you Greensboro folks)...but he was just another annoyance.
But one day this past summer I noticed a young lady standing there talking with him and I noticed that they seemed to be having a pleasant conversation...they both looked relaxed and he was smiling.
That's interesting.
I drove by an hour later, and they were still standing on the corner talking.
So I started taking notice.
And each time I saw someone wave a bill at him, he would rush over with a huge grin on his face...and if the light hadn't changed yet, he would spend a couple of seconds saying something to them.
Huh!
Now, my kids know how I feel about these "homeless" people and they never ask to give anything to any of them. But one day this summer, out of the blue, Andrew says, "Mom, I really want to give this man something." So he grabs a dollar from my purse and waves him over.....the light had already changed so he just said, "Thank you God bless" with this sweet grin on his face.
We both felt it....I know we did. It was really joyous to give him that one dollar, because he genuinely seemed to appreciate it.
Huh?
So, one morning I am driving to work, and I see a completely different man standing in the Exception's corner. I instantly felt uneasy about it...and came to the conclusion that he must have been bullied out of his place.
Damn him!
I was relieved to see the Exception there the following day, just like usual. And I also happened to be stopped at the light right beside him. So, I rolled down my window and asked him about it. He said that he wasn't sure why the guy was there....and that he already had to pay the guy $15/day to let him sleep in his space.
Say what?
It took me a while to process but I finally did...the Exception had to rent out a place to sleep on the street every night. Not only that, he had to pay another homeless guy to do it. What happens when he can't make his rent?
Huge, huge paradigm_shift here people.
Fast forward to this morning. I had a craving for a McDonald's biscuit that is right there on the Exception's street corner. I ordered a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit and the lady tells me that they are on special and it is actually more expensive to buy 1 biscuit....so I get 2 and curse the stupid people who run McDonald's for being total food wasters. And I know I'm just going to throw away the other biscuit.
That is until I pull out into the street and see the Exception....OF COURSE, I'm going to give him the other biscuit! And the light had just turned red so we had a little time...I waved the bag in the air and he comes rushing over to me, with that sweet grin and say, "OOOOOHHHH , thank you so much!" and takes the bag just as a guy in the next car over waves him over for some money! He is all smiles...and they chat for a second, like they know each other.
And I am seriously sitting there with this huge smile on my face. The Exception opens the McD's bag peeks into it and looks at me with these HUGE eyes and mouths "thank you"....seriously, it was like I had given him the best Christmas present in his life.
He walks over to his "perch" sits on the curb, opens the wrapping, cradles the biscuit in his hands and just sinks his teeth into it with a look of pure joy on his face. There was no one else around at that moment, he was just absorbed into this hot breakfast he was getting....and I watched him for as long as I could in the rear view mirror when I drove away.
My heart just grew a few sizes.

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