Rose would have loved this. I'm hanging out today at Mount Zion, UCSF, at the Infusion Center with a good friend as her "Chemo" buddy. I took the bus over and am walking to Mount Zion, staring down as I usually do: a safety precaution as I am running all the time (have a great system, run to do everything. Rose use to get so amused, "guess you've been running." "Well yes." I've tripped on uneven payment a couple of times--just look down. And, I knew a saintly parishioner who would collect pennies and meticulously keep up with this great volume as people everywhere it seemed gave her pennies. Amazing how many you find if you are looking down. Anyway, I spy a dime. Pick it up and cross the street. A female panhandler asked for change. I give her the dime. She laughs. I immediate run into the hospital. My friend is running late and so I walk up to Starbucks. Get a coffee and exit: you guessed it, the panhandler is there. Get this: I had already decided to give her two bucks. She said to me, "I need two dollars". I give them to her and say, "you are relentless.
She says, "You were running away from me."
"No", I say, "I always run everywhere I go."
She laughs. "You looked good." Question. How in the world did this women know to seek me out. I gave her a dime. By all rights, a guy who gives a dime is not likely to come through with two bucks which she needed she said. And, hell, "I looked good," she said. That is worth a hell of a lot more than two bucks.
Comments