If you give a homeless man a banana...

Do you remember reading that children's book, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie..."?

Well, what happens when you give a homeless man a banana?

I had to go home for lunch today, and Dave decided to meet me there. I was a little late, so dave already had veggie burgers fixed up. All I had to tell him was whether today was a mayo day or a mustard day.

So, we finish lunch, we let the dogs out (every time one of us says this, out comes that stupid song "WHO LET THE DOGS OUT? WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!"), and Dave hands me a banana for an afternoon snack. I take it and I head out the door.

I'm walking the three blocks from my parking lot to the office and I see a homeless man sitting on a bus stop bench. He's hastily eating what looks like dried cornbread stuffing right out of the box.

This, of course, kills me.

I know I have plenty of food (maybe too much, if you were to look at the size of my hips) and I know that there are lots of people out there who don't have enough. I've felt lately that I'm not doing my part in being charitable, in giving back.

So, as I'm walking by the obviously hungry man, I smile. He smiles back, which to me is so graceful considering that his life is obviously rough right now. He hasn't had a good meal or a bath in a while.

I reach into my bag and I pull out the banana.

"Would you like this?" I ask.

He takes the banana. "Thanks. I haven't had anything to eat all week. Bless you."

I smiled again, but I walked away, wishing I could do more.

So, if you give a homeless man a banana, he'll thank you. And perhaps you'll thank him, too.