Poor Man on an On-ramp


Last weekend I was getting on an onramp when my passenger asked me to pull over and pick up an elderly gentleman seated on a briefcase. He was thin, frail and dressed in a rumpled suit - in 100 degree weather. The old fellow hopped into my car with his briefcase in his lap and told us he needed to meet someone across town at a certain offramp. "A kid is supposed to meet me there and give me a ride to Illinois," he whimpered. On the ride he explained that his wife had died in Arizona and he was on his way to live with his daughter in a small town in Illinois. Having been burned so many times I was suspicious - but it seemed like this gentleman might really be in tough times. I volunteered to give him $20 to see him on his way to Illinois.

Today, I spotted the same man, at the same on-ramp, seated on the same briefcase - waiting for some chump to pick him up and take him across town.