We had a rather boring weekend. A little bit of lazy, a little bit of yard work, a little bit of housework, and a whole lot of watching movies. The only interesting thing that happened this weekend was a middle-aged guy knocking on our door Sunday afternoon saying he and his wife were just trying to get together a few bucks for gasoline to get home. Lin was going to blow him off (and, in fact, did), but I, being the way I am, ran after him and gave him $5 of my mad money.

Lin is skeptical of everyone and doesn’t trust anyone he doesn’t know, but I judge things a little differently. From my seat in the living room, I could see him on the porch, so I couldn’t just him by appearances (which I don’t do anyway), but he apologized for how he looked, so I imagined him to be rumpled and sweaty (he was — he’d been walking a ways, it looked like). I listened not to what he was saying about his wife and family just trying to get home and listened to his voice and how he was saying it. I could tell he was embarrassed and a little nervous … in the way you might be if you knocked on some stranger’s door and asked for a few bucks for gas. Then there was the fact that he had knocked on our door to ask for $3 for gas. I’d say that takes some measure of both balls and desperation. Anyway, he’d made it about a half block away before I got back to the door with the $5, so I ran and called after him. He very genuinely seemed grateful, and when he reached out to shake my hand, I took his, and I felt nothing but thankfulness. I do read people very well, and this man truly needed some money, and it didn’t seem like he needed it for drugs or drink. He was just a nice normal middle-aged man who seemed to be having a crisis.

Sure, maybe he didn’t need it to get gasoline as he said, and to me that doesn’t really matter anyway. I think he was being truthful, but maybe he was hungry. Maybe he needed a few bucks for something else. He didn’t seem like a druggie or drunk, and that’s all that really mattered to me … and I’d determined he was neither of those just by listening to his speaking. He spoke well and clearly. So whatever his need was, I hope I was able to help him fulfill it. I felt a little silly running after him, but I don’t know, it felt important that I do this thing. I felt really good walking home … so light and happy. It felt like a good thing to do, therefore, I feel certain it was.

Oh yes, of course, it is entirely possible Lin is right and he just wanted to case the joint and see who lived here, but I didn’t get that vibe, especially when I handed him the $5 bill. Besides, even if that was his actual purpose, maybe by me showing him compassion and understanding he might think “What a nice lady, perhaps I shouldn’t screw up her life.” You never know, right?

Doesn’t matter anyway, because I know I did the right thing, and even though a few minutes later I was inwardly grumpy about having $5 less mad money, I got over it. That money will come back to me in another way, or maybe I was just passing on some of the help I have gotten from strangers in the past.

This morning I decided I was sick to death of looking at that large sheet of foam insulation board we have in the hall to block the kittens from getting around the furnace/AC unit, and so I took it down and watched what the kitties did. Naturally, they both ran right up and stared sniffing around and trying to climb in beside the furnace … only to find that the tight little space they once got into when they were teensy-weensy was now far too small for their more adult shapes. They have already grown bored with it, so no more pinkness in the hall. Yippee!

Of course, I took a moment to open the door to the Box Room of Death, something I honestly hadn’t done since we got the kittens, and after a quick look at all the junk I was aptly able to ignore thanks to the door being blocked for many months, I closed the door again. We really have to do something about all those moving boxes of junk we haven’t seen in over three years. Ridiculous. Amazing how easy it was to completely ignore a moving truck’s worth of boxes stacked floor to ceiling in your spare bedroom when you can’t see the door thanks to a 1/2″ thick piece of insulation board. Outta sight, outta mind is so true.

I was going to go to the grocery store today, but it’s all rainy and grey again, so I don’t really feel like going anywhere. We have food, the sell-by date on the milk is today (so it’s still going to be OK to finish off), and I have enough laundry detergent for the last load of laundry that needs doing, so it can definitely be put off. I think I’ll do last night’s dishes, vacuum and straighten up the living room, and be a slug the rest of the day. I haven’t been sleeping all that well the last few nights, so I feel some video games and naps are in order, especially since it’s so dark in the house due to the weather it feels like late evening. Blech.