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Brother, Can You Spare $5?

In Doing The Deed by Holly Walker

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Some good deeds I’ll just have to make up.

Today’s good deed: GIVE A HOMELESS PERSON MONEY

As I’ve stated before, the ‘One Good Deed A Day’ journal is a great concept, but some of their suggested deeds just don’t work for me.

  • DONATE YOUR PONYTAIL AFTER A HAIR CUT

That’s not going to work unless the intended recipient wants an afro pom.

  • DESIGNATE YOURSELF AN AMBASSADOR TO YOUR TOWN AND VOW TO OFFER DIRECTIONS TO ANYONE WHO LOOKS A LITTLE LOST

Nope. I have the sense of direction of a drunken gerbil.

  • KISS THE COOK

He’s married … and not to me. Now that would be a memorable evening at Red Lobster.

Fortunately, there are pages in the back of the journal for me to fill in my own good deeds. I think that’s wise. And safer.

I gave a homeless man $5 today. I was driving to an audition. I pulled off of the 405 South and there he was.

Sometimes I look away, pretend I don’t see the homeless. The tendency for a lot of people is to just avoid eye contact. If we’re in our car, we pretend to change the radio station or that there is something really important sitting on the passenger’s seat. We, as a society, tend to avoid eye contact with two groups of people: the homeless and nuns.

This man and I made eye contact for the briefest of moments.

I used to have a judging system for giving money to the homeless. They had to look homeless enough, but not too homeless. I wouldn’t give money to a stranger if they looked crazy or slightly off kilter. On the other side of the coin, I wouldn’t give money to a stranger if they were dressed as well or better than me. To be fair, on most days, that wouldn’t be hard to do.

Working at different establishments that benefit people on the streets has broadened my horizons on what a homeless person looks like. One can never tell the hardship a person has gone through simply by what they’re wearing or how they’re behaving. My job is to give for the joy of giving and let the chips fall where they may. Are there scam artists out there? Sure, but karma has a way of taking care of them.

So I gave the man $5. I’m happy I did. He said, “God bless you,” with a bit of a speech impediment that sounded as if he were deaf. I smiled, wished him the same, and drove to my audition.

I’m glad I made up my own good deed. It turned out pretty well. I may just make up some more. I’m sure the ‘One Good Deed A Day’ journal folks would be alright with it. After all, I’m still doing good deeds. It’s either that or get pregnant and carry a baby for 9 months just to,

  • HUG YOUR CHILD FOR NO REASON AT ALL

Yeah. That’s not going to happen.

Photo (Flickr CC) by derya

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Holly Walker

Ms. Walker made her acting debut at the tender age of 8 in For Spring is the Season of Happiness. She almost turned down the role of Mother Nature (she wanted the role of "Spring") until she found out Mother Nature had the most lines. On that day, a diva was born. Holly has traveled the world performing comedy. She has been to more than 40 U.S. states and over 30 countries worldwide. She is an alum of the improvisational companies Boom Chicago and The Second City. Holly currently works on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore as a writer and performer. She has been a part of the Rebel Storytellers family since 2009 and hopes to be with them for many years to come.
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