Charity for all

There are beggars on the streets of Paris..not many and they don't accost you. Usually they are just sitting on the sidewalk close by the building, sometimes accompanied by a dog; the other day there was a man with two cats sleeping comfortably on his pile of clothing. There is usually a hat or a piece of cloth in front of them to deposit your offering of coins. Neecie and I usually check our pockets and if we have some small coins we contribute those.

Yesterday in the near the Cluny and San Michel we came upon a man kneeling in the middle of the sidewalk with a sign that said

"Je faim" (I am hungry). Neecie, being a compassionate soul, searched her purse for one of the snack bars that we have carried. She came up with a South Beach Diet bar and dropped it into the man's cap that lay on the sidewalk in front of him. he quickly dropped his pose of supplication, reached down, picked up the bar and just as quickly pitched it toward the street. I could almost hear him say " Bah! Phooey". Guess he wasn't so hungry after all.

Which makes one consider whether it is still a gift if it is scorned and rejected in such a contemptuous fashion?

And on second thought, with all of the wonderful foods in Paris why would anyone, even a beggar, want to eat a diet food bar?

#7 Katie