The Harassed.

      Today my friend Austin and I were eating a subtle lunch of cheap Wack Arnold's cheeseburgers. We had gone to the back of the place to eat and found a table not really close to anybody. I was gnawing away at my grease-saturated, sloppy, yet decadent one dollar burger when I look up to see a man. The man was approaching our table. He sat down uncomfortably close to us and said, "Man...have you guys ever been discriminated against?" I already knew where this was going. You might think he was going to ask us for money, and if you did you'd be right...very right. He described to us that he had fallen off of a dirt bike, hit his head and gone to the hospital. He showed Austin the back of his head which was scratch-less and continued his complaint that the hospital had "discriminated" against him because they had only given him ibuprofen for his head...not even discrimination, mind you.

The story goes on.

      The man, obviously desperate enough to sit at a table near total strangers asked if he could get a ride to a homeless shelter. I said no I'm going to Virginia to see some family (I wasn't). He then asked for $3.75 to take a bus. I said no, I don't carry cash...it's all on my card (another lie but at this point I couldn't care less about it). Austin's reply was the same. He then asked us if we would buy him lunch. So, at this point, it's obvious that he didn't want money for his original story...I proceeded to mentally check out and trash any compassion that I had originally felt. If you're going to ask strangers for money at least get your story straight.


I digress. Here's the good part.

      He said, "Something bad could happen to you." Pointing at Austin he said, "You could go home and somebody could have raped and killed your mama." Pointing back to me he stated, "...and you could get in a horrible wreck on your way to Virginia." Obviously he's getting mad at this point. So this goes on for a few terribly awkward minutes. He then made his way to the point of asking us for money again. Austin replied that he works hard for his money and he wouldn't feel guilty for not giving it away. We then said that we were leaving and the man said, "Go on then, redneck! Raised up just like your daddy, probably a member of the KKK!"

We left.

I don't feel bad.  I agree...what money I do have is mine and I don't want a guilt trip when I say no to giving it away. If I say no, move on to the next person and save your pitty party for someone else. Just walk up, say you're homeless, ask for a few bucks, I'll say yes or no, and go about your business. I've given money to people before because they seem somewhat genuine, but in this case, I feel absolutely no pitty.