...and despite my efforts, she looked at me in shock and with disgust.
Last night, I went out for dinner with a few friends for my birthday. We went to Irie, a really great restaurant on Queen Street West. I'll post a review soon-ish.
As soon as we arrived at the restaurant, we were approached by a homeless lady. It was cold out and we had just had a snow "storm" (which was nothing compared to the amount of snow we would get in Montreal). I thought that giving the lady a little something to help her get a warm cup of coffee would be a nice thing to do. You know, love thy neighbour, do unto others...BAH! I always try to do the good Samaritan thing and I always feel better for it after, but this time it was different.
This lady had the nerve to bother patrons of the restaurant and since she told me, "Please. I haven't had a thing to eat in five days. I'd just like to go across the street to Starbucks and get a coffee", I felt the urge to help her. Since I don't carry lots of cash on me in the city (I only have my debit card because I'm afraid it is just not safe to walk around with lots of money in your wallet!), I had some pocket change with me. I emptied out my wallet and gave her ALL the coins I had. Granted, it wasn't much, but it was the best I could do without handing over my debit card to her!
The woman held out her hand and I deposited all of my change...and then she looked at me with a disgusted face. Everyone I was with didn't even pay attention to her. I would have thought she'd be THANKFUL that I tried to help her. Nope.
I don't get it. Some people are so ungrateful. It's not like I have tons of spare cash to hand out. She has no idea what my story is or what I'm going through. Being in Toronto, though I have been lucky to be staying with family for free, has been expensive with having to pay for transportation to and from the hospital every day, buy my meals when I'm at the hospital with the baby, etc. It isn't cheap.
I thought I was doing the good neighbour thing, but I guess some people just always want more.
Posts
5 comments:
There are certainly people like that. I remember one time Ted and I were going to dinner, and Ted gave a man a dollar, and he said, "That's it? Don't you have a fiver?" Nice. On the other hand, like you, we've had plenty of folks who were very thankful of our gestures, be they great or small. I guess the thing that helps me is to shrug it off and say, 'it takes all kinds to make the world', though of course, sometimes that doesn't help.
well, you did what you could to help this lady. i would feel a bit miffed too, but to play devil's advocate, even though she didn't seem "grateful", maybe she's carrying some heavy baggage herself.
word ver:
molobuct
(heh?)
i remember giving someone my leftovers from a nice meal out and the person got so mad they threw them in the garbage...nice...i certaintly don't think he wanted food..probably drugs...now i just ignore all beggers.
Glad to hear you are well! Happy Holidays!
That's so rude of her!