And You Were Upset When They Asked If You Were Pregnant (And You Weren't)

I've been trying to minimize the number of nights I spend in New York City lately so I've been packing my schedule there completely full.

I have breakfast meetings, morning meetings, lunch meetings, afternoon meetings and dinner meetings.  By the time I make it back to my hotel room I'm a basket case.

On Tuesday I had a GREAT lunch meeting at a fabulous Greek restaurant in Manhattan.  I got a salad with chicken on it and it was FABULOUS.

But it was too big and I couldn't finish it.  Of course, I knew that I was staying in a hotel (no fridge) and that I had a dinner date (no need for leftovers) but there was no way I was sending it back to the kitchen - so I took it with me.

And I started looking for a homeless person who might enjoy it.

Now I know that some of you think I'm being completely horrible - just because someone is homeless doesn't mean that they want to finish my half eaten food.  And I agree with you.  I would never assume that someone wants the other half of my hamburger.

However, I can't tell you how many times I've seen homeless people in NYC pull half full coffee cups out of the trash and finish them - having no idea where they came from.

I was hoping that an amazingly delicious salad with chicken delivered in a takeout container from a posh restaurant would be appealing to them.

But for the next 6 hours I couldn't find a single homeless person anywhere in NYC.

 Finally I met up with my Twitter friend, Deanna, and said, "Keep your eyes peeled for a homeless person."  She looked at me like I was a little crazy but she nodded.  She's awesome like that.

We walked around Manhattan for 3 hours but never did find a homeless person.

WE THINK.

We did pass one guy pushing a grocery cart full of redeemable cans.

Deanna nudged me, "What about him?"

I hesitated. "I saw him but I don't think he's homeless, I just think that's his job." 

She paused.  "Really?" she asked.

"I'm not sure." I admitted.

And then it hit me.

You know everyone tells you that the WORST thing you can do is ask a woman if she's pregnant - when she isn't?

Well that's totally wrong.

The worst thing you can do is walk up to someone on the streets of New York City, hand them a half eaten meal and say, "You, you look homeless, here's my leftover lunch."

Comments

[joeinvegas]

So, you never did find someone to share the salad with?

[Matt Conlon]

I was once approached by someone asking for money as I stopped in a long line of cars at a red light. "Can you spare some change? I'm homeless and hungry."

I had no change, but I had an extra muffin I'd bought from Dunkin Donuts. It was right when they changed from their mini muffins to their bean-bag-chair-sized muffins, and two was too much for me...

"I don't have any change, but I have an extra muffin," I said, and handed the bag to her.

"Oh, thanks," she said, with much less enthusiasm than one would expect from a homeless, hungry person who was just given food...

The light turned green, and I made it about thirty feet, only to stop at the same red light again... Gotta love Boston traffic. I saw in my rear view, she'd stepped out of the street, dropped the bag in a trash can, and moved back out into the street to continue asking for change.

Hungry, indeed.

[DaddyRunsALot]

I've been in NY a fair bit over the past few months -- and it seems that, on every-other subway ride, I've encountered a homeless person (though seldom do these people truly look homeless - I believe the shelter situation in NYC has gotten remarkably better in recent years) who has, very kindly, asked if anyone had food that they might be willing to spare.

Those have been the only people that I've KNOWN to be homeless in NYC.

In my small town, though, in central PA, there seem to be regular people, congregating at busier intersections, holding signs saying "Homeless & Hungry"

[D H ARZA]

The problem is in Midtown the homeless do not have signs or advertise that they are in fact Homeless
Lower Manhattan I see Homeless with signs saying Homeless Vet or Stranded no money to go home...

[Katybeth]

To0 funny. Like the first commenter tho I am wondering.... Did she find a homeless person? What happened to that salad?