The generous beggar

It was winter and I was standing at a bus stop back in Slovakia, when I saw an old scruffy-looking guy walking around asking people for change. Some of them gave him a few coins, others ignored him.

A lady in a thin coat, shivering from the cold, was waiting for the same bus. The scruffy looking guy walked up to her and asked her if she had any change. She says to him: I bet you have more money than I. I have to go home and feed my 3 kids and pay for the bills all from my minimum wages (which were very low in Slovakia). I don’t know how I am going get them any presents for Christmas this year, not even talking about a Christmas tree.

The beggar did something no one expected. He looked at her with compassion in his eyes and said, you know what, here you are. And he gave her all the change he got that day. The lady was shocked, she didn’t know what to say, so she uttered a weak thank you. You’re welcome, the beggar said and started walking away. I stopped him as he walked passed me and gave him a few coins and some more people did the same.

This incident happened a few years back but I still remember it as I’ve never seen anything like it before or after.
Since then, I try to be nice to at least one stranger a day whenever I can.