Food Stamps

    I couldn't tell how old he was. Probably late fifties. Could have even been in his forties. Who knows? He could have been in his thirties.

    The evidence of guilt was on his face. Cigarettes and alcohol and maybe even drugs had cut a path of deep creases into his forehead and his face. He sat on the sidewalk in front of Wal-Mart. One of his friends sat next to him. It was a pack of some generic brand of cigarettes but even they probably cost three or four dollars a pack. I came out of Wal-Mart with a buggy full of groceries and he asked me a stupid question.

    "Would you like to buy some food stamps?"

    I just walked past him. He asked people walking into the store if they wanted to buy food stamps.

    I wondered if the man had children at home that were hungry. He could use the food stamps to buy them food. Instead, the man had a monkey on his back that he could not shake off.

I knew what he would do with the money if he had it. The beer companies, the cigarette companies and the Florida Lotto would all make money. Children would go hungry.

I wish now that I had done something to help. I wish that I had picked up my cell phone and dialed 9-1-1 and reported him for trying to sell the food stamps. 140424