Everyone's a Critic

One day I was sitting Washington Square during lunch and noticed a man about 60 years old with no shirt on. He was sitting on a bench, his shirt around his waist, a few days worth of scruff on his chin, very politely asking for change. If a person gave him change, he would say "Thank you and god bless you."

Well there aren't many polite bums in the world, and this one looked like a genuine guy down on his luck so when I got up to go back to work, I put change in his cup. I walked a few steps before he called out after me, "Oh miss!"

I thought he was simply going to tell me "Thank you and God bless," like everyone else. But instead he looked me in the eye and said, "You look tired."

I looked into my purse and spied another quarter. I walked back to him and put it in his cup.

"That's to help you work on your act," I told him.