Breakfast Reject

Last week, my daughter and I went to New York City. We had received tickets to the Wendy Williams Show. Not wanting to be late, we boarded the 6:18 out of Hicksville, and arrived at Penn Station a few minutes before seven a.m. The doors to the Chelsea Theater would be opening at 8 am. We walked to 26th Street, and saw that the line had yet to form outside the studio. Having a good half hour to spare, we decided to get two coffees and a breakfast sandwich, from the Dunkin Donuts shop on 7th Avenue. I was so excited about seeing Wendy ("How you doin?") that I did not realize the cashier had misunderstood me, and had ordered and charged me for 2 sandwiches, instead of one. We took the bag with the two sandwiches and our 2 coffees, and sat by the window. Too nervous to eat an entire egg, bacon and cheese sandwich..we decided to split the one and save the other one, for later. As we sipped our very hot coffee, and munched on our delicious breakfast sandwich, we enjoyed looking out the window at the 7th Avenue traffic and pedestrians. "Look, mom. How very sad. There's a homeless guy." I, too, had spotted the young man, a few seconds before. It was sad, indeed. His clothes were tattered and dirty; signs of sleeping in alleyways. He wore a woolen black cap, even though it was a warm, 70 degree morning. Nodding in agreement, I answered. "It is sad, honey. There are many homeless people in this great city." Suddenly, in sync (as only moms and their daughters can be!) we both said, "Let's give him our extra sandwich!" We giggled at our synchrony, and continued eating. I watched the young homeless man stand at the corner, by the mobile hot dog stand. He had a paper cup in his hand, and would wave it horizontally, as passersby made their way past him. No one seemed to see him. No one gave a dime. I felt good about giving him the surprise breakfast. As we crossed the street, just a few feet from reaching him, I smiled, and raising the Dunkin Donut bag in the air, towards him, I said, "Happy Breakfast!! I got you something to eat." I put the bag in his empty hand..and I was deliberate in my action. Why? Because, he didn't want it! I know this may sound nutty..but, I honestly felt the guy did not want something to eat; rather he wanted money. But would the loose change in my pocket suffice? This little meal would fill his belly! What would 54 cents do for him?! I didn't get it! The guy was picky about what I was giving him!!! We kept walking, and we did not turn around to see what he did with the gift we had given him. All I know is this..he was unappreciative of it!  This was not the first time, I had witnessed "attitude" instead of gratitude! Over the years, I have often seen it at birthday parties. You get what you believe the child is going to love. They open your gift box, rip apart the tissue paper, look at what's inside, are left unsatisfied and then, fling it out of the way; tearing into the next one. I had felt disappointed. They did not want what I had bought them. When I observed my own young children, doing the same thing, I spoke with them about appreciating any, and all, gifts. "People don't HAVE TO give you anything," I told them. It was a hard lesson, that needed to be repeated a couple of times, but they finally 'got it.' So, did I give the homeless guy, more than the sandwich?! Did I tell him how I really felt about him shunning my generosity?! I did not. Sometimes, you just have to be happy with your own actions, and not worry about how your action was perceived. Bummer.                                                  Peace.