It's good to be nice

While on Prince Edward Island last month, my mom was approached on the street by a man asking for coffee money. Without a thought, she handed him three dollars...figuring he'd have enough to get a GOOD cup of coffee. Now, my mom would probably have done this even if the man had not made reference to coffee...but it's funny how she identified with needing a cup of coffee, and in knowing how she herself would feel - gave him the money. It was a nice gesture. And even though on Prince Edward Island (where crime is fairly non-existant and the populace in general seems of an honest breed) it's not likely the man was scamming my mom for dough, it seems a good thing to do anywhere.
This brings me to today in Pittsburgh (where the temperature is mild and the sun is shining by the way). As i walked to my jeep to fetch my lunch (i accidentally left it there this morning), a distraught young Pitt student (I could only presume she was a student, as she had the tell tale sweatpants and panic stricken face)...approached me asking for $2. She and her boyfriend ran out of gas and, to their chagrin, had no money. I only had $1 to give, but i handed it over. I wish I'd had $2. Thinking, "wow, that would suck" was my primary motivation for handing over the $2, but in retrospect I hope I would have handed it over even if i couldn't identify with her present situation. It seems a good thing to do...to just hand over a few dollars now and again to a complete stranger if they ask for it, without questioning their motif or integrity. Too often it seems people look at others with suspicion. Sometimes it's warranted, but wouldn't it be nice to just let that go every once in a while and give that bum on the corner a few bucks or that goofy looking lady asking for bus fare a $1.75? They might walk away laughing at your gulibility...but even if there's only a 10% chance that person is really in a jam, only a 10% chance you could change the direction of someones day, decrease their stress, and make them smile...wouldn't it be worth it?