First, you have to know how much I hate to be hot. I HATE IT. When hot, I become furious and mean and itchy and snap at people.
The downtown Portland shopping and in-out, in-out from store to store was making me hot. My rain coat keeps me warm, which is not good on a rainy day that is also 55 degrees (this is warm to a Westerner). Up four flights of stairs to my car in the lot, and I had the windows rolled down for some air, puttering toward the freeway entrance.
When I was panhandled WHILE SITTING IN TRAFFIC.
That's a new low, even for the clean, intelligent-looking, 21 year old young man with matching clothes and a Helly Hansen backpack. Does it seem remotely likely that walking up to my open window as I'm easing off the brake, and asking for change, is going to elicit a "yes"?
Gah. Chalk it up to Sunday Blues, perhaps.
I just gave a firm "no" and kept all commentary to myself - 'tis the season, after all.
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Two things: A) Being hot and wet at the same time is the worst. A warm, humid, day just makes you feel sticky and unpleasant.
ReplyDeleteB) I am totally intimated by panhandlers. An African-American man approached me in Atlanta and prefaced his request for money with, "Ma'am, do you like black people?" What do you say to that? He did, at least, look as though he could really use some help. A clean, intelligent, apparently-healthy young person should definitely know better than to panhandle someone while they're driving!