December 21, 2012
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Still Room for Another Good Deed
I stepped out into the bright afternoon sun to grab some lunch at my local Vietnamese restaurant. As I walked past the pan handler, he looked up at me and asked "Do you have any change?" I had already a couple of steps past him when I fished out a quarter from my pocket. I turned back and saw an old, weathered face with a few layers of worn out clothes. I placed the quarter in his hand it and it rolled off. The quarter fell right through the metal grate. "It fell!" he cried out. We both looked down at it. He looked backed at me. I reached into my pocket again and fished out a coin. I looked to see what it was. It was a loonie ($1 coin). He saw it too. I carefully placed it in his hands. He thanked me quietly while I pondered what I just did.
Today I had the luxury of eating out at lunch time. It was a treat for working late every night this week. Last night, my meeting finished at 11PM and I barely woke upon time this morning. I went back to local Vietnamese restaurant and enjoyed some spring rolls and chicken pho. My tummy was very happy. As I left, I almost walked right into a very disheveled looking man. He held out his hand and asked "I am trying to buy a pop, do you have any change?" He had some coins in his hands. I grabbed some coins and tried to discreetly sort out the big $1 and $2 coins. As I handed him some coins, I saw another $1 coin land in his hands along with a few dimes. He stared at his loot as I walked away.
As I rounded the corner, I saw another young Asian guy sitting on the sidewalk across the street. His hat was on the sidewalk. But this time I didn't cross the street. I figured I've done my good deeds already. Except I kept thinking about him sitting there in the cold sidewalk a few times as I worked through the rest of the day. I guess I didn't do enough good deeds yet.
Comments (8)
You have a good heart. This is the Christmas spirit. Enjoy these days...
You are so kind. But make sure that the YOUNG Asian guy is not taking advantage. He could be helping out in a soup kitchen or something.
Good heart is part of you Matt. The post is a good reminder to help where we can.
Good karma will come upon you pretty soon, Matt. I did my deeds while flying on Asiana a couple of days ago, they have donation envelopes in every seat!
Gosh! What kind of job you have? Late night meeting 'till 11pm! They better pay you well (plus a bonus). Hehe
I think it's okay to feel that way, that sort of regretfulness that you can't give to every single person who needs it. You just can't possibly do that; no one can. But caring, that definitely matters
I do want to help a lot of people... but, when you have to take care of yourself... where do we draw the line of just who and how much we can help out?
I saw this video about how a good deed is somewhat infectious. It's about people seeing other people doing good and inspires them to do the same. So I guess someone might have helped that other person through you.
@ed408 - thank you, after awhile I do recognize a lot of the pan handlers in my neighbourhood. While part of me thinks that a quarter here and there will probably go for smokes, booze or drugs; it's not really for me to judge them if they do that. I haven't walked a mile in their shoes.
@ZSA_MD - I'm not really sure about him, I sort of recognize a lot of the regular panhandlers in my neighbourhood but I've never seen him before.
@Fatcat723 - thanks Rob, I can't imagine being in their position.
@CurryPuffy - Wow - that's an excellent idea by Asiana. As for my job - no raises or bonuses in the forecast. I didn't get any last year either. We were told to suck it up.
@thefittedsheet - yeah, there's only so much one person can do.
@BenelliMan - I've always felt you have to take care of yourself first.
@oxyGENE_08 - that's good to know Gene, I hope it's infectious.