even just a smile.

last night, i was driving down van ness and was stopped at a red light when i saw a homeless man in the middle of the street. he was jaunting in between cars smiling to all of the traffic-goers he passed. cradled in his hands was a sign that read "anything helps, even just a smile. =)". for some reason, i've always liked that type of panhandling sign. it doesn't contain some elaborate sob story or even a demand for money--just compassion. now i'm not one to give away money freely to random homeless people, but i just happened to have a pre-packaged shrimp louie salad that i was going to eat for dinner. i figured that he could probably use the food more than i could, so i forwent my own dinner and gave it to him. he thanked me kindly and said it had been a long time since he had had a good salad.

today, some of my wacko friends said that a lot of homeless people don't even want food. they just want money for whatever interesting habit they have picked up. i drove off quickly so i couldn't see what the guy did with the salad, but i'd be pretty pissed if i gave up my dinner to have it be thrown out, uneaten.