Getting Substance at Subway

Yesterday I went to Subway for lunch with a leprechaun (my friend Jeff). After we got our sandwiches and sat down, this guy buying his food asked if either one of us had a dime. I was kinda taken back because he didn't need the dime to purchase his food. Instead, he just didn't want to walk around with 90 cents in his pocket. I am all about helping someone who can't afford food, and I don't mind if someone I'm with asks for help with making exact change... but a stranger?

I thought to myself, "That takes gall. If I were him, I would have paid with what I had and then left the 90 cents on the counter for other people who also might want to use exact change." Even though it was solicited and I didn't agree with his approach, it was building kindness, so I gave him the 10 cent.

After a while sitting, talking and eating with Jeff, it hit me that I was uselessly harsh in my opinion of the 10 cent guy. I didn't know his situation. I didn't know what he needed his money for. With the economy and job market the way it is right now, it's more likely than ever that his asking for change was preceded by serious need. Our society as a whole is so judgmental, and I hate it. Thinking more deeply about this guy's possible reasons for asking for change gave me a meaningful moment of reflection and growth.

When Jeff and I finished lunch, I went out to my car, collected about a dollar's worth of dimes and took them back inside. I sat the change on the counter and I told the kid working the register to give it to other people who need exact change.

Here is a picture of Jeff... and a picture of a leprechaun. I wasn't kidding.