The other day I was driving down one of our local streets, enjoying the sunshine and the warm spring air, and I saw a man standing at the intersection with a sign that read, "HELP".

I drove past him and found myself feeling uncomfortable with my choice. It occurred to me that this man, likely in his late fifties, early sixties, wouldn´t stand with a sign on a street corner unless he genuinely needed help. Here I was enjoying the comforts of my life and who was I not to share a little of what I have. So, I did a u-turn, drove back a few blocks and got into the lane closest to him. I reached into my wallet and out came a $10 bill. It felt like a universal message that this is what this man needed. I usually prefer to give the homeless food versus money, but all I had in the car was a half-full can of peanuts. I decided that a protein snack was to be part of the gift as well. I handed the man the bill and peanuts and he smiled a kind smile at me and thanked me for the donation. I drove away feeling good that I had helped my fellow man.

When I arrived home, I told my partner that I would need to get him another can of peanuts. (I had been driving his car and donated his snack). He asked why so I explained. His response was that he sees that man on that same corner all the time. I didn´t think much of it.

Just this afternoon, I was driving down that same street and lo and behold, there he is again. Only this time, I noticed that he had a nice shirt on. He was still there, holding up his little cardboard sign saying "HELP".

Just as we drove by, I couldn´t help but notice that this man had an earpiece over one ear, very much like the Bluetooth wireless headset that I wear in the car. At first, I thought, no, that´s not possible. Sure enough, I looked again, and there it was. Not a hearing aid, but a wireless headset, leading I´m guessing to the cell phone tucked into his pocket. What gives?

Since when do people stand on the street corner asking for help when they have the financial means to purchase a cell phone and a wireless headset?

Okay, once I got over standing in judgement, I realized that I could never know the story of this man unless I bothered to go ask him. And, even then, there would be a lot I would never know. Bottom line, do I really need to know? Here was someone asking for help. I responded and felt good about it the rest of the day. Did he really need the help? Well, who should decide that? Does it make the gift less worthy if he does have a cell phone? I had the choice to help him or not. I chose to take action. Will I give him more money and snacks in the future? Probably not. Does that make him wrong for standing on the street corner? Well, that´s the beauty of a free country. He gets to stand on that corner if he wants to. Quite honestly, I think that panhandling must be some of the hardest work around. Given the choice, I would much rather sling burgers at a fast food joint, or sweep floors for a living.. Maybe for some reason, he doesn´t have that choice. Or, maybe he found a broken earpiece in a garbage can and thought it was a cool wardrobe accessory.

So, where am I going with this? For me, this was a lesson on two levels:

-         Rarely are things as they appear

-         A gift that is not freely given is not really a gift at all

Given my sizable curiosity regarding people and their choices, I may stop and chat with this man sometime and hear his story, if he´s willing. If so, I´ll fill you in.

In the meantime, I owe someone a can of peanuts.