The Beggar in the Park

There is a man who sits every day on a bench in the park. He wears torn clothes, is wrapped in an old blanket when it is cold and listens to a battery operated radio at times. He is shaved and groomed although his clothes are torn and he wears flip flops. He doesn’t smell, so he does bathe.

Every time someone walks past him he says “Have any change? Do you have any money? I haven’t eaten in a while.” There are some senior citizens who give him a buck or two. He happily thanks them and wishes them blessings. But when they don’t, he adds “You don’t have any money today. Maybe another day?”

I have been walking in the park for over 20 years now. Every time I walk in the morning I see him there. Once I was at a supermarket in the neighborhood and I ran into him. However, he was very well dressed and he was getting out of the driver’s seat of a car. The scene didn’t make much sense to me then. I even thought it was someone who looked very much like him. Nonetheless, when he greeted someone who was walking by, I recognized his voice.

He has also had his fifteen minutes of fame when there was a disaster in the park and the lake dried out. I was watching the news on TV and who did I see? The beggar! He was in tears telling the reporter how much he loved that park.

Some people say he is nuts. If he is, I really cannot affirm. I believe that his job is sitting on the bench on the park from Sunday to Sunday from 8 to noon.

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( Written September 2, 2013)
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