35 cents is a lot...

So this one is going to be a short one with no photo. Sorry to all you visual people.

Forget 50 cent, I had a problem with 35 cents! No its not some up-and-coming-wannabe-rapper but it was the amount of change in my pocket. I was walking down to the metro (thats what the subway is called in Montreal) and I was completely lost in my own thoughts. I was in a kind of bad mood and all I wanted to do was to get home as soon as possible! So I had reached into my pocket to grab my metro pass and I noticed that I had 35 cents in my pocket. Being in a bad mood, I got frustrated and said what good is 35 cents? What can I do with that?

As I thought this, a guy came up and asked me something. Judging by the way he dressed, his piercings, and home-made tattoos he was going to ask me for something. I put up my defenses and kept my head down hoping not to make eye contact.

"Sorry, do you have 35 cents so I can make a phone call?" And in his hand he had a nickel and a dime.

"No. Sorry." And I kept walking and disappeared down the escalator. In less than a second I had lied to this guy... twice! I did have exactly 35 cents which I wasn't very thankful for and that were virtually useless to me! And I unfortunately wasn't sorry. I had my head up my ass and thought that the world was coming down on me, when this street kid needed to make a phone call. I had a huge gut check on my way down to the metro. I didn't care. I want to live my life where I treat others with the respect they are entitled to. Even more than that! I want to treat them better than they deserve. How many times have I just finished shopping for whatever it may be and a homeless person asks for some change and arms laden with goodies and with comparitively full pockets I tell them no I don't have any. How many times have I lied about this?

I am glad to say that I turned around when I got to the bottom and went back upstairs to find the guy still asking for change. I gave him the 35 cents I had and apologized. It was an awkward conversation, though incredibly brief, but the guy was a class act and was just happy that he could make his phone call. Doing the right thing is so often incredibly bittersweet.

Best 35 cents I ever spent!