8 State Hurricane Kate

Today I did something that I don’t often do. I rolled down my window and gave a woman a $5 bill at a red light. She had a sign that said she needed the money, that she had a medical condition and couldn’t work. I know that people sometimes stand on a corner and make a good haul panhandling when they really don’t need it. But I decided that I could spare the $5 and I was willing to take the risk that she needed the help. I had to calculate whether I had time to pull out the $5 bill and give it to her before the light turned green. I knew the people in the line of cars behind me would get impatient once the light changed. I caught her eye and stuck my arm out the window. She came over, took the $5, and thanked me. She said almost apologetically that she had never done this before, that she had a medical condition and couldn’t work. She thanked me and said that it meant a lot to her. I told her that what she had said meant a lot to me too, and it did. I wished her the best, wished her good luck. Eye-to-eye and heart-to-heart, we had that one moment in time to connect. I thought about reaching into my wallet and giving her more, and then the light turned green. I looked back at her as I pulled away, on my way back to work after lunch, incredibly thankful for the work.

I don’t think the $5 made much of a difference in her life. But maybe the fact that I stopped and showed her that I cared, that not everyone just drove right by like she was invisible, that she wasn’t just a stranger on the corner that nobody cared about, maybe that made a difference. I wondered what turn of events had put her out on that corner. Her face looked a bit swollen and could have been a sign of a medical condition, I don’t know. She was middle-aged like me and looked like any one of my friends or co-workers. Maybe that’s what hit me the hardest. Some people would say that she didn’t look like she needed the money; she was dressed ok and didn’t appear to be living on the street. I’ve been laid off three times since 2001 and I’ve been very fortunate to keep landing on my feet. I know that others have not been so lucky. People who we know have been landing on the corner, not on their feet, all over this country.

I think we should care about our fellow humans whether they look just like us or not. But it’s human nature to perhaps take notice and be more concerned when we see someone like us in need. I guess what I’m trying to say is that this was a neighborhood and a person that didn’t scare me, so I felt safe to open my window and hand out a $5. I didn’t feel like I would get pulled out of my car or get carjacked there. And when I saw this woman I thought, “there but for the grace of God go I”. I didn’t feel sorry for her as much as I felt a sisterhood with her. Maybe I got taken for a ride, but I don’t think so.

We are still connected. I can’t help but wonder how she’s doing and whether she’ll be back on that corner tomorrow.