Homeless

ANNA: As we were checking out at the grocery store tonight, I noticed the man behind us was only purchasing 2 heads of iceberg lettuce. Now I know people buy 1-2 items at the store all the time, but I found it odd that he was pushing around 2 carts of bundled cardboard and paper for recycling. He looked clean and presentable, but was a bit scruffy with his long hair a beard.

Not knowing if the man was homeless, I waited to see where he went after leaving the store. From a distance, I followed him to the end of the parking lot and watched as he sat down on the curb and pulled out a slip of paper to write on. Feeling as if I should help, I approached and reminded him that we had been in line together at the store. Presenting the small gift card, I asked, "I was wondering if you could use this." He politely declined saying he was fine and didn't need it. When I made a comment about all the stuff in his cart, he said "That's just for show. Give it to someone else who needs it. Give it to the Red Cross." And with that, I said goodnight and left.

Living in Los Angeles, I see homeless people every day. I don't carry cash often, but have offered water bottles and fruit from my lunch to beggars on the street corners. But I haven't done it much since one told me he didn't need my food because his wife cooks.

Another homeless woman agreed - she didn't need food. About a year ago, Scott and I had a meaningful conversation with a homeless woman at a different grocery store. She stopped us as we were walking by and began asking us questions about the area - bus travel, streets, neighborhoods and parks. Basically, she was new to our are and was trying to find a good place to spend the night. We spoke with her for over an hour about her being homeless, where she sleeps, shelters and resources, etc. She was very open and genuinely seemed to value our conversation. I felt bad watching the Security Guard eye her for the entire hour. Before we left, we offered to buy her some groceries. She graciously declined saying, she didn't need it at the time - I still remember her commenting that "you can always get food."