CONSIDER THIS: Try a little kindness

By MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ
Managing Editor
editor@sbnewspaper.com

Michael Rodriguez

I don’t necessarily have an Easter message to share this weekend. Although I often try to acknowledge the significance of the holidays and the festivities associated with them, either by recalling a personal account or deploying elaborate metaphors to preach a specific moral, the inclination to do so stems from genuine interest in the matter at hand.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that I’m not genuinely interested in Easter. It’s just not my style to write something simply for the sake of writing it. Something usually has to occupy my thoughts for a significant amount of time before I decide to fill this space with about 700 words worth of me. So if I’ve written about Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween or the Fourth of July in the past, it’s because I was in the holiday spirit during those specific times. Bear in mind, though, that it takes a profound happening to distract me from the joys of a jubilee, which brings me to this week’s Consider This entry.

I’m sure most of you have been approached, and in some cases accosted by panhandlers begging for money. They usually come in the form of elderly women who speak, or rather mumble in Spanish. You can find them in grocery and retail store parking lots, street corners and gas stations. And we’ve heard every story in the book, haven’t we? In fact, let’s identify their sob stories in the order of their effectiveness.

1. “I ran out of gas and need a few dollars, can you please help?”

2. “Do you have money to give me so I can buy some food?”

3. “I lost my wallet/purse and need help with a couple of bucks.”

4. “Excuse me, I’m not from around here and was wondering if you could loan me some money. I’m stranded at a hotel and need help.”

5. “I’m lost and don’t have a place to stay, so any cash you could give me would help.”

If you’re like me, the first thing you do is observe what they’re wearing, their body language and whether their concern appears sincere before deciding whether you’ll help them. If you’re like others, you simply walk away, sometimes without even acknowledging their request or presence.

Unfortunately, a few reporters who shall go nameless (but whose first names rhyme with “feather” and “tank”) have let the cat out of the bag about me being a big softy. This is why it should come as no surprise to some of you that I not only fall into the former category but almost never say no to these panhandlers; unless, of course, I have no money to spare.

Am I often duped? I’m positive of it. Do I feel silly afterwards? Absolutely not. Consider that while I, too, often wonder where my money’s going (i.e. booze, drugs), I’m often left with the inkling that I’m somehow doing more good than harm. Haven’t you ever felt that way? When your instincts dictate your actions but your conscience rules over your heart?

Take, for instance, a recent case I experienced Tuesday evening. Everything about a woman at HEB who was begging me for $3.00 screamed of a scam. Her story didn’t make sense, she cried but shed no tears, yet I felt compelled to give her a $5 dollar bill anyway. I’m still not 100 percent sure why; all I know is that even if she was a fake, she clearly needed the money more than I did.

Some would scoff at such a gesture and complain that they had seen her before, asking for change from shoppers who’d rather not be inconvenienced. Still, something happened to this woman that led her to that parking lot, and regardless of her purpose there, what she may have needed more than a little cash was an act of kindness.

How can I be so sure? Understand that while her story may have been a lie, the anguish, pain and degradation written all over her face spoke a sad truth.