December 16, 2023

Season’s (Missed) Greetings

There was nothing special about her, as far as we could tell.

She was just another person, presumably homeless, standing at a busy intersection in the cold, driving rain about a week before Christmas, passing along the line of cars stopped at the red light, flirting with danger, asking for money.

And there we were, too far back in the queue, rifling through our pockets for cash, and searching the car for a fig bar.

We give fig bars and small amounts of cash to homeless people sometimes because every little bit helps.

Let’s clarify. Every little bit helps us feel better about ourselves because isn’t that what it is?

But we never got to give the cash or fig bar to this woman (girl?) on this unkind rainy December day because the light turned green and she had to move and we tried to turn around but then.

You know how it goes.

But hey, we tried.

Sort of.

And doesn’t that count for something when you drive home in the rain in the paid-for sports car with the $476 Christmas present in the trunk that you just bought for…yourself?

And then you had a nice dinner at a nice restaurant that night and…

Ah, don’t worry about it now. You meant to do the nice thing at Christmastime, you really did. And now it’s being written about. So don’t worry about where that woman is tonight. Don’t worry. Your intentions are keeping her warm, fed, and safe.

Tell yourself that as you fall asleep in your comfortable bed tonight.

Or don’t tell yourself that. Don’t think about it at all. Maybe that’s what Christmas is really all about, Charlie Brown.  –TK