Year of Giving

On Friday I came home to my apartment to find a package full of items for Gregory of Day 71. 

Thanks again Darnell!

So Day 98 was an interesting day.  I actually met up with a local news reporter and cameraman and they followed me around while I gave away my $10.  I also ran into Phillip from Day 75.  He was doing great.  He always makes me smile.

It was raining so I took cover at the top of the escalators at the Tenleytown Metro. 

The first woman I approached said that she didn’t have time as she was on her way to exercise class.  I then approached a couple, but they were looking for a ZipCar location and were late to pick up their car.  Then saw a woman walking into the Best Buy and tried to speak with her but she refused.  

Chris - Day 98 (Photo: Reed)

It was my fourth attempt of the day when I approached Chris.  He kindly stopped and said that he would accept my $10.  It turns out Chris is on his way to work.  He lives in Maryland and takes the Metro down to Tenleytown and then hops on a bus that takes him down to his job in Upper Georgetown.

Chris works in the mortgage business.  

We talked a little bit about giving.  He thinks that giving is mostly spontaneous.  That the decision of whether he gives to someone on the street or not is triggered in the seconds before he gives or decides not to.  As it relates to giving to people on the street, I think this is the case for most individuals.  You might have a preconceived notion about giving in these situations, but that may change in the moment if for example the person says something to you that sparks your desire to help them.

When Chris isn’t putting in insane hours at the mortgage firm, he enjoys going out and “enjoying life.” He also likes to cook…me too!  I can’t remember if he said he had taken some classes or he wanted to.  I recently took two courses at the Sur La Table store at Pentagon City.  They were great.  Chris has actually got some practical experience from when he worked as a cook in college.

Chris thought a minute about what he would do with the $10 and decided to give it to a homeless person.  “There are a couple of guys right outside my office…I will give it to one of them.”

We parted ways and I saw his bus a few hundred feet away getting ready to pull away.  He hustled over and thankfully made his bus…I would have felt bad had he missed it because he took time to speak with me.

UPDATE: I met up with Chris again on Friday and he hadn’t given away the $10 yet as the guys who are usually outside his office had not been there all week.  He hopes that he sees them this week.