I view myself as a nice guy, and someone who is concerned with others. When I see someone begging for money or food, I tend to comply. Throwing someone a sandwich or a few bucks comes second nature to me. This is, however, simply a set up to a story of my experience on the El in Philadelphia about a week or so ago.

I step into the train with about 3 bucks in my wallet and about 65 cents in my pocket. I know that the money in my wallet should buy me a small lunch from a lunch truck downtown. Besides the 65 cents in my pocket, I have a token for my ride back to Northern Liberties, where my car is parked. So, about 2 stops into my ride, a woman with 2 bags and ratty old clothes steps onto the train and announces that she hadn’t eaten in a day or two and would appreciate any food or money that anyone had. I immediately reached into my pocket to give her my change and when I handed it to her…

She proceeded to give me the flat tire sound and the eye roll, then continued walking.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? If you truly needed money, you would take my change, wouldn’t you? I honestly don’t get how this woman could have such audacity.