Woman feels accepted when homeless man recognizes her stops asking for change every day

After moving to Chicago over the summer, Amy Rosen has spent a lot of time getting acclimated to the city. She’s taken long walks around downtown and various colorful neighborhoods in order to learn more about them. She rides the CTA and rarely listens to her iPod in order to take in all the sights and sounds and possibly strike up any conversation that may come her way.

Rosen has also become used to the various panhandlers and beggars that tend to congregate in certain areas of the city. Including one particular man who stands outside the same drug store every night asking for money.

Though Rosen rarely gives the man money, she makes sure to always smile and say “Hi.” One evening, man simply smiled back and said “Hi,” rather than asking for money.

She was elated.

For Rosen, this signaled that she was finally part of a neighborhood, and therefore part of the bigger city she had grown to love and learn so much about over the past several months. This incident was the first time a stranger she had met actually recognized her and smiled back. She considered it a victory and a signal that she could truly start calling herself a local.

She continues to smile at the man every night, though he usually ignores her now. For Rosen, the ignore is at least an acknowledgement that he recognizes her and knows he knows it would be a waste of time to ask for money. And it still makes her very excited.


Grocery stores will donate thousands of carts to homeless

This holiday season, in an effort to give back to the community, hundreds of grocery chains have promised to donate thousands of shopping carts to homeless communities throughout the country.

Representatives from both participating grocery stores and homeless communities are ecstatic. “It’s like cutting out the middle man,” says Rod Holder, general manager of one of the participating grocery stores. “It’s great to know that you’re really making a difference in someone’s life.”

One-eyed-one-legged fuzzy coat man, a representative of the homeless community, also expressed appreciation on behalf of his peers. “In donating these carts, you’re really cutting out the middle man for us, and we appreciate it,” he says. “It’s especially nice not to feel like you’re stealing during this time of year,” he adds.

The carts will allow thousands of homeless recipients to have a more convenient way of transporting their worldly possessions around the city. Holder and other grocery store managers, would often notice their carts in odd neighborhoods filled with trash bags full of gear. Rather than getting angry, he became compassionate and help out during the holiday season.

When asked if he would also donate food to homeless shelters, Holder began laughing and simply said, “Are you kidding me? That’d be way too expensive. And would only last for a few hours. These carts will last weeks, maybe even months!”

The homeless are grateful to receive the carts. Many expect to use it as a bartering tool for food and maybe even some dignity, since that’s what they truly crave most.