"It's not much, but I hope it helps."
"It's the thought that counts. Really, it is. Thank you."
It's not often I think "Oh, such and such has changed my life!" In fact, very few of our experiences cause us to sit up, take notice, and make a permanent change in how we think about ourselves or interact with our fellow human beings or the planet. Usually, they are something forced upon us that we cannot ignore--a serious illness, loss of a spouse, but I have noticed that even these events, although difficult and thought-provoking, often don't lead to lasting change in our habits or interactions once the crisis has abated.
The above exchange, all of 10 or 15 seconds, however, did result in some kind of profound change in my thinking and habits that will carry over into my interactions with others. I was driving to work at my part-time job at Seattle Used Bikes, a small, independent motorcycle shop. I take the same exit off of a busy thoroughfare to a light and then take a left at the light. Often there is someone on the short grassy strip just before the light panhandling. It's often the same couple of guys, but this man was a recent newcomer and I had only seen him a couple of times. The light was red, and I offered him a dollar, which led to the above-referenced interaction. The one that profoundly changed something in me.
The impact of his words stunned me, then it dawned on me what the dollar had probably meant to him--acknowledgement of him as a fellow human being, in need, worthy of assistance, anything I could give. Acknowledgement that he was indeed someone, not just someone to be ignored.
It made me think about all of the nameless, faceless, sometimes homeless people out there, panhandling for a dollar or whatever I can give. Not think for a minute, but for days. About how, although the dollars are needed, what is needed even more is acknowledgement of the fact that they are human beings, that they matter in this world, that they deserve to be treated with respect and dignity just like the rest of us. It somehow made me see beyond the material situation--beggar, perhaps homeless, unshaven, to the humanity within, the connectedness we shared beyond the overlay of the material.
Ya, you can argue that the panhandlers don't really deserve my hard-earned money, that they prey on the gullible, but the bigger question is, what put them there in the first place? What put that guy there on the grass by the light where I turn left? Were there so few options left to him that he felt he had none other? Is he just mentally unable to handle the complexity of finding work? Does he have issues preventing him from being able to hold down a job (mental illness, injury, PTSD, or a host of others)? I am sure there is a very small minority who come from perfectly normal backgrounds who have chosen to panhandle as a profession, but I think for the vast majority, that is not the case.
I have decided going forward that I am not going to ask, or worry about whether I am being "taken for a ride" by someone, or anything else. I am going to give that dollar because if the thought counted to this man, it probably counts to a lot of others as well. It's simply part of my job as a human being.
