This story starts at an unlikely location: Whole Foods.
Unlike many in San Francisco, I’m not a huge fan of Whole Foods, or rather, Whole Paycheck. Though they provide a great (if overpriced) service by providing organic foods and healthier food options to the masses, they also epitomize the elitism that’s taking over this city.
However…they make a mean salami baguette sandwich for 4 bucks. If you buy two, they only set you back 7 bucks. So even though I bristle at the elitism and overpriced nature of the place, I often find myself there to purchase a couple of those sandwiches after my morning tennis.
This is the reason I had one to spare today, and was able to give it to a young homeless couple sitting in the median as I drove home afterward; and hopefully help them be a little less hungry tonight.
This wasn’t planned. I was actually saving the sandwich for lunch tomorrow. But as I drove alongside the pair, and read their sign, “Very hungry, Please help” with no mention of money, there was no other option but to give them the “second sandwich” on the seat next to me. The fact that it was slated for my lunch tomorrow didn’t even register. I said, “Here, take this. I just got it.”
The young male smiled and said “Thank you”, then handed it to his female partner, who also smiled and started to unwrap the plastic. He followed up by saying, “It’s like Christmas”. I felt a small tug on my heart that almost made me start to cry. I smiled (instead of crying) and said, “Have a good day”. He said, “You too sir”.
The light changed and I drove away, but the exchange stayed with me. The meaning of my day had changed dramatically from being one of mere post-tennis beautiful-day contentment to one of unadulterated gratitude.
Anyone who’s been to San Francisco knows that homelessness is not an uncommon sight. A combination of the mild weather and social services infrastructure make San Francisco a slightly more tolerable destination than many other cities for the homeless population. As the demographics of SF change, and it becomes less affordable to live here, the ranks of the homeless and hungry are going to grow!
I’m currently one of many in the ranks of the unemployed, but have the benefit of rent control and savings to help out as I work to establish myself as a tennis writer/tennis official. Now I’m not going to lie to you and say that I don’t have money worries of my own, because I do. But even though I don’t have a steady paycheck, I certainly have enough so that I don’t need to sit on a median with a sign, hoping for kind support from strangers in order to avoid a hunger.
I have no idea what the backstory was behind this young man and the woman who was by his side. Presumably they are one of the many couples (or brother and sister) struggling to afford a life in an increasingly unaffordable city. Presumably their sign was truthful, and they were very hungry. If so, then I hope that my sandwich was of some help to them, and that tonight they are a little less hungry.
I’m going to continue to buy my “2 for 7 bucks” baguettes from Whole Foods, but I have a feeling that I won’t be saving the second one for lunch the next day anymore.