Twas the Night Before Thanks Giving

Those Santa Sightings have begun in earnest! Today a gentleman selling "Streetwise" (a magazine to give people confronting homelessness a way to earn a  small living) was selling his "schtick," as well as a copy of Streetwise, to all passers-by.

Even when I do not plan on buying a Streetwise magazine, I acknowledge the vendor with a, "How ya doin'" Sometimes the greeting is more important to them than the $2.00 purchase (of which they keep $1.50)

I do the same for beggars on the street (not comparing them to these Streetwise salesmen trying to be productive.) A few of the beggars will continue pleading but most of them, most often, thank me for my question and answer in fairly intelligent ways.

Back to Santa Sightings. As I approached the Streetwise Vendor in Trader Joe's parking lot to make a contribution, he laughed a "hoot" and said, "Oh my, oh my. Santa. I got an early visit from Santa. Good thing I've been good."

I gave him a $5.00 and told him to keep the magazine as I had already read the issue. He was quite pleased and gave me a "God Bless You Santa." After a pause, he added, "I guess God already has!"

Uncanny

Yesterday I attended a play in Boys Town. Before the play I had dinner at a Thai restaurant in the neighborhood. As I was waiting for my dinner, a woman stopped at the window near my table and peered into the restaurant for a few minutes. She was somewhat disheveled, dressed in many layers, had two worn shopping bags, and appeared to be a little "off."

She came in and requested a table for one. She looked at the menu for a while and then got up and came over to my table. "Can you buy me something to eat?" she asked.

"Of course," I replied. "I would be happy to do that." She smiled at me and returned to her table.

After she ordered a noodle dish and three egg rolls, I went over to her table and gave her $20.00 saying, "Enjoy."

"Thank you very much," she countered.

The uncanny thing about this occurrence is that from the moment I saw this woman heading towards the window of the restaurant, the scene played out in my head before any of it happened and I had already decided that I would buy her dinner.

Yes, there is magic and compassion available to all of us!

Road Side Entrepreneur

Every Tuesday, Gregory and I drive down California Avenue on the way to his being dropped off for a painting session with Nancy nrosen.com.

Often we see a woman on the west side of the street, sitting at a card table outside her home. On the table she has a number of items for sale like make-up, soaps, and candy. She is what I would call a road side entrepreneur. She is probably not licensed by the city  but her "shop" is OPEN FOR BUSINESS none the less.

For a long while now I have wanted to stop and patronize her shop but when we have enough time to get to Nancy's, often the woman's shop is not set up. When the woman is there, we are usually in a hurry to get to Nancy's and keep going. This time we had both time and the woman's shop was open.

I pulled over, got out of the car and headed over to the table to shop. The proprietor, who hopes to make a few dollars this way is an older, robust, black woman. I mention this because I have always admired the no nonsense, self confidence that I often notice and admire in black women like her of a certain age.

I selected one bar of carrot scented hand soap and five bags of assorted candy. The candy was hard as bricks but I was going to give them to Nancy who loves stale candy so it was a perfect match. My store clerk added up the items and said, "Five dollars, please."

I had already decided before getting out of the car and proceeded to hand her a twenty dollar bill and said, "You know I feel bad that I always miss you when we drive by, so just keep the change. Merry Christmas to you." I was careful with my wording because while I wanted to do something nice for her, I didn't want to insult her.

Before I know it she came around from behind the table, embraced me close in to her ample bosom, planted a loud smack on my cheek (not just an air kiss,) and asked God to bless me.

I don't really know that woman, but I sure do love her! I felt really good for a long time that day.