June 24: Some Young Guy

I don't know if he was kidding or not, but it made me feel uneasy. A guy I know came up to me today and said that he was collecting money for another guy that was hospitalized. Sounds like a nice gesture, right? Well it might be if he went into more detail.

There are very few things in life that I have a hard time talking about and money is one of them. I find it difficult to tell a table that gratuity is or isn't included. When a guest hands me the check with a wad of cash, I always get change because I'm incapable of asking if they need it. I never count my money at the end of a shift just so I can tell people that I don't know how much I made and I hate tipping people because I feel like they judge me no matter how much I give. I can't explain this (for lack of a better word) personality oddity, but it's who I am.

Which brings us back to this guy asking for money for some other dude. That's all that was said. "Hey, Brandon. I'm collecting money for this guy that I know because he was hospitalized." I don't know how other people responded to this plea, but I wasn't about to drop what I was doing and grab my wallet. How much can I give? Twenty? Is twenty dollars enough? How about thirty? Can I please drop a bill for this guy?

Call it cheap or call it frugal. Heck, call it selfish if you want, but I didn't want to give him anything. Am I supposed to feel sorry for "this guy" because he's been "hospitalized?" At least give me a story. Tell me the guy was shot robbing a convenience store. I would be more likely to give money to that guy than your protagonist. I mean, the people in Africa give me pictures of skinny kids with cleft lips. All I received from you was a word with hospital in it.

Because of my inability to talk cents (get it?) I simply suggested the collector see me when I wasn't so busy. It wasn't a no and it wasn't a "let me go make ten bucks so I can give it away to a total stranger." It was avoiding the topic at hand which is what I do best when confronted. I didn't hear from him again today, but that's not to say that I won't hear from him tomorrow or the next day. Hopefully his friend dies or gets out before I get approached again. Don't judge me for that last line.