He Wasn't Having Any Fun

While we were waiting outside, for a seat to open up, in the restaurant, I was heartbroken by one panhandler who seems to be having an incredibly difficult life. 

We'd just walked through Union Square, past a giant Christmas tree.  Nearby, people were ice skating.  We'd passed a Starbucks, a Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue, Tiffany & Co., billboards for Niketown, and the iPad2.  Meanwhile, this man slowly shuffled along, hunched over, in his wheelchair, with an empty cup in his lap, too downtrodden even to hold up his head. 

He knows we won't meet his gaze or do anything to help.  It sickens me.  It also reminded me of another man, in a different town, on an earlier holiday.  It shouldn't be this way.

On the way back to our car, we were stopped by man who said he was with the Fun Patrol, somehow affiliated with the SF Police & that they were collecting donations for a local soup kitchen.  I was happy to be able to make a small donation but wish I could do more.