Member-only story
A Strange Man Stops a Woman and Her Child To Offer Unsolicited Help
Sometimes you can’t tell kindness from mischief.
On a sunny, incredibly warm spring day, a woman walks the bustling streets handholding a tired and cranky three-year-old.
They stop on a bench and she takes out a sandwich from their backpack, holding it for the little one to have small bites.
Swaying their sore feet, they watch the cars passing by, sharing the sandwich and talking, without realizing they are being watched.
Out of the blue, a man pops in front of them and says something.
She looks up at him, not quite believing he’s talking to her, trying to make sense of his apparently shy smile and the words that seem to come out of his mouth.
Did he just say — at my place?
He stopped talking, waiting for an answer, while she was trying to replay the words.
Yes, he said, “You know, if you’re hungry, I have lots of food at my place.”
Hell no. Why on earth would this man think she would come to his place, with her son, for his… food?
She shook her head with a firm no, but he continued.
