I'm going to have to adjust my food budget to account for panhandlers along the way. Or devise an effective defense plan.

The ironic thing is, I was on my way to the rock-bottom, el cheapo shopping district when I was almost immediately waylaid by a petite 50-something Irish-accented woman. She was $1.70 shy of the BART-fare back to wherever she was going. At least, that's the gist of her longer (but not too long) rendition of the story, delivered in those lilting Irish tones I can't seem to resist. So I pulled out my wallet, gave her two bucks, accepted her Thanks and God Bless You and went on my way, thinking maybe I'd been had, but I have to give her an A for effort and an A+ for delivery. So that's worth something.

Approximately 2 minutes later, I'm waylaid again by a stocky, 50-something black woman. I feel like I've already done my good deed for the day, but at the same time I don't want to discriminate so I let myself get pulled over. She asks if I can give her $5. I'm thinking "five bucks! Yeah right. That's more than I was going to spend on Ramen Noodles at the $1 store!" But something in me is thinking just give her $2, otherwise it's gonna bother you. So I give her $2 and she immediately starts ranting that she needs $5 so she can buy a chopped beef steak. I'm thinking, chopped beef steak! Do you know how many packs of Ramen noodles you could get for $5? So I go to plan B, which I've been carrying with me ever since I brushed off this elderly gentleman in my neighborhood who I'm almost certain would have used any cash I gave him to purchase his choice of nips. That bothered me, so when I got the "buy one get one free" coupon for Burger King - I knew exactly who I could treat to that second Whopper. I'd been carrying the coupon with me ever since. So I told her, I'm not giving you more money for chopped beefsteak. But I'd be happy to treat you to your burger of choice at Burger King. (If you ever read my journal on a:link you know about my weakness for BK. I'm not proud of it.)

She would have none of it. We argued in the street for several minutes before I walked on. I would have taken my $2 back, but having already given it to her, I wasn't really entitled to take it back.

Needless to say, I dodged panhandlers of other nationalities until I'd finished my shopping.

I did have one good spontaneous giving experience shortly after that. I was refilling my gallon water bottles at the Safeway near my gym when a guy came up with a grocery cart full odd, empty containers and asked me how much it cost to get a water refill. I answered, 35 cents a gallon. I finished my second refill, and took some extra time getting everything together before leaving because I thought I knew what was coming. Sure enough, he dug through his pockets - twice - then asked if I had 35cents I could give him. I probably should have given him two bucks, but there's something to be said for exact change.

Speaking of bargains, the store next to my gym has 8.5 oz cans of cashews for only $2. That's less than $4/pound! I'm now eating approximately 1.5 pounds of cashews a week though. That's gotta stop. I was hooked on almonds before, which I think are better for you, if only because they're only addictive enough for me to go through about 3/4 pound a week. But now for some bizarre reason, almonds are $6/pound. What am I supposed to do in a case like that?