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Tuesday, December 14, 2010

The Boojie Beggar

The other day I'm on the train and a woman boards asking for money. She passionately proclaims that she's not an addict of any kind and simply needs money for food. I was tempted to give her what was literally the last dollar in my pocket-- until I observed how she responded to her first contribution. A woman with a small child proceeded to give her what may have been every coin in her purse. The homeless woman then methodically picked out every penny in her possession, placed it an empty seat, and headed to the next subway car.

I guess beggars can be choosy.