Year of Giving

On Saturday night I found myself out in Chinatown in DC with my brother and several friends.  

Fado's Irish Pub

I had not given my $10 away yet and it was getting close to midnight, so I thought I better find someone quick.  Inside Fado’s Irish Pub, I spotted Christine who was talking to some of our friends and I found myself inserted in some random conversation.  I decided to see if the 25-year-old would be open to receiving my $10.  You might laugh when I say that, but often people say that they don’t want to receive it.  They think there is some sort of catch or it is all part of some sort of scam.

Originally from Maryland, she now lives in DC where she keeps a busy schedule.  She teaches chemistry, is enrolled in a doctoral program for physical therapy, and is a massage therapist.  Her long-term goal is to work in the field of neurological rehabilitation.  If all this wasn’t enough, she somehow finds time to practice tai chi chuan.  Suddenly my mind wanders to images of an early morning park setting where a group of people perform precise movements at a painfully slow rate.  She says that tai chi helps provide for a solid base of self-defense as you learn how to put your entire body into your movements thereby creating more power.  Thankfully it turns out that she has never been put into a situation where she had to defend herself, well, except for a fight that she was in in the second grade.

I asked her how she would use the $10.  She said that she was going to put it toward her rent.  She shares an apartment and for some reason her roommate has not been paying his portion.  Although she doesn’t come right out and tell me this, it sounds like she is helping him out financially while he doesn’t have the money.  That is extremely generous of her.