I was
walking down the street recently when I was accosted by a particularly
dirty and shabby-looking homeless woman who asked me for a couple of
dollars for dinner. I took out my wallet, got out ten dollars, and
asked, "If I give you this money, will you buy some wine with it
instead of dinner?" "No, I had to stop drinking years ago," the
homeless woman told me.
"Will you
use it to go shopping instead of buying food?" I asked. "No, I don't
waste time shopping," the homeless woman said. "I need to spend all my
time trying to stay alive."
"Will you
spend this on a beauty salon instead of food?" I asked. "Are you NUTS?"
replied the homeless woman. "I haven't had my hair done in 20 years!"
"Well," I
said, "I'm not going to give you the money. Instead, I'm going to take
you out for dinner with my husband and me tonight." The homeless woman
was shocked. "Won't your husband be furious with you for doing that? I
know I'm dirty, and I probably smell pretty disgusting."
I said,
"That's okay. It's important for him to see what a woman looks like
after she has given up shopping, hair appointments, and wine."