I am friendly with the lady down the hall in my current apartment complex, we used to be neighbors at my old place and she asked me for rides a few times but not too many. And she also cooked me big containers of black-eyed peas and ham and other food and I gave her some spaghetti once. We aren’t friends but we’re friendly.
She called me this afternoon asking for food. My first thought was she was trying to take advantage of me and I said, “You’re asking me for food?” She told me she couldn’t get food on the weekend because she was depending on getting a grocery card on Tuesday. So I relented and made her a good peanut butter and honey sandwich and she came and picked it up and I forgot about it.
Then this evening it hit me that she might really be sitting in her apartment hungry with no food. I thought how terrible that would be so I texted her that I would make her another sandwich and I could give her some potatoes. She texted back and said thanks for the food and that she was fine and didn’t need more and she was getting ready for church. The thing is I almost let my suspicion win over my humanity. I’ve been burned before with people just using me for food and drugs but if I can give a few bucks to strangers occasionally then I can certainly feed a hungry neighbor in her time of need and feel good about it.
