So there I am at a stoplight on my way to pick up some coupons. Granted it's in a rough part of town, but still I was surprised to look up from my reverie to see a stooped old man standing in the middle of the left lane gesturing to me in earnest.

I lowered the window a crack and he starts his schpiel. "Ma'am I haven't eaten in two days and I'm hungry." Only he said hungry like it had 8 syllables all the while patting his belly.

Coincidentally, in my straw bag I had a couple of shelf stable meals I had pulled out of some milsupport boxes because they weren't fitting well before I had sent them to Africa earlier in the morning.

When I lowered the window a few more inches to hand him the meals,
you could see his body language and facial expression move from "jackpot!" to "son of a b...." .

He_was_crushed.

I'm not sure why this struck me so funny, but I couldn't help myself after he walked off and I rolled my window back up, the light turned green and I LAUGHED and couldn't stop as I drove through the intersection on to my destination.

Seriously.

He couldn't hide his disgust at getting what he actually asked for and not some money. Normally, I will hand out a few bucks no matter what. I figure it's not for me to decide what a panhandler is going to do with some money, but still the situation had it that I had food right there and ready to go so well you know...ask and you shall recieve, right??

This guy's schtick had been so rehearsed and his expression so canned to look old, worn and decripid that when he realized he was getting something and it wasn't money, my offering immediately subtracted ten years from his face, posture and walk in the time it took for the food to pass through the window and him to stomp off.

Initially, here was a helpless old man with lips pulled over his teeth, a pained expression and a plea for food. When he walked away it was a hacked off, middleaged guy who didn't limp, certainly didn't want any food and had--I suspect--a few choice words for me in place of any pleas.