Bottled Water

So... For those of you that know me well, you know I have a fear of transients. They've never done anything to me, they just seem unstable and scary. (Yea, whatever. I'm a sissy, I know.)

One night last week, I was getting off the freeway (sitting at the worlds longest red light) - tired from a long day at work crunching numbers when I noticed a man on the freeway off ramp with a sign that said "Your change could change my day. God Bless."
For some reason, it made me incredibly sad to see his sun beaten face all scruffy with the brim of his dirty baseball cap pulled far down, over his eyes.

I had the immediate thought "I have a few bucks of change in my ash tray. I should give it to him..." I hesitated to roll my window down, didn't make eye contact and he walked away from my car.

The car directly in front of me held his arm out of his car window with some dollar bills crumbled up. The homeless man accepted the bills, nodded his head towards the man and then handed him a little origami crane...

I looked in my rear view mirror (once again avoiding contact with the man) and the car behind me handed him a bag of food. Like they had just finished up at the grocery store and had put together a bag for him. He handed them an origami crane. Once again, I focused my eyes on the blasted red light that refused to change to green...!!
Finally the light changed and I was able to "escape". Sorta. I got a tight feeling in my chest and felt my eyes well with tears. It bothered me for a few days. I had the few extra bucks and I didn't help.

Tonight after work, on my way to pick up the girls from their dad's house, there was a man on the street corner. He walked towards the car in front of me, smiled a crooked smile at the driver, waved at the kid in the back seat and then walked past my car.
Once again, I averted eye contact.

I watched him in my side mirror with his sign held low against his torso. I noticed his skin was very yellow, borderline orange. His eyes looked tired and he shuffled when he walked. As he turned around and started walking towards me, I read his sign in my mirror "Kidney failure. Need dialysis. Can't work."

God.

I glanced over at my wallet knowing that it's contents need to last me the next two weeks until payday. Being a single mom is hard, yes. And this last year has been financially the hardest I have ever had. I count pennies and cut corners, it's just life right now. The crappy economy cut my pay by a third and it's been a very difficult adjustment, but I'm doing it! And, I know times will get better so I just roll with the punches. This man has it far worse then me.

The man's eyes reminded me of my dads. They twinkled. I reached over on my passengers seat and grabbed the bottle of water I was just getting ready to open. I'd be home in a half hour, I could cope.

I rolled down my window and handed him $3 and a bottle of cold water. His hands shook as he took it from me, opening the bottle of water and taking a big swig.
He said "Thank you, miss. My mouth is parched! I needed water most."

I smiled, told him he was very welcome and drove off.
I've decided to keep bottled water in my car from now on.
It's the least I can do.