Tonight, I was watching the premier of the television show “Dollhouse,” when I heard a knock at the door. It was a young man (he identified himself as being seventeen years old), who said that he was taking care of his five year old brother, and they hadn’t had anything to eat for two days.
He said that my next-door neighbor (whose name he couldn’t recall) had told him that I occasionally hired someone to do yard work for me. In retrospect, I (1) disbelieve that he had talked to my next door neighbor, and (2) believe that my next door neighbor knows that I do all of my yard work myself.
Even so, I told the individual on my front porch that, though I didn’t have any money to give him, I would give him some groceries. I got a bag and put into it two cans of chili, two cans of Beefaroni, a can of Vienna sausages, and a package containing a generous slice of Spam.
I told him that I was not going to do this again. I asked him where he lived, and he said that he lived on the next street over. I asked him why my next door neighbor didn’t help him, and he gave some explanation.
I may, or may not, have been taken in by a scam. I believe that the guy really needed the groceries. It has been my experience that, if someone is, in reality, only after money, they will decline to accept groceries, when offered. This individual did take the food. When he left, he walked in the direction that he had indicated he lived.
I would rather be deceived, than not give when someone is truly in need.
P. S.: I did miss a little of the program, but I did get to see the ending, and I may have helped someone in need. That’s enough for me.
