i once lived in a third world country and street kids were commonplace.

one time we stopped on a red light and a little girl, age six at the most, tapped our window. her dress was in tatters, she was barefoot, and she was selling flower garlands.

these white flowers one can pick in the parks at dawn and they smell nice, not unlike gardenias. they’re very small and about 20 would fit an 18-inch string necklace which were usually hung around little statues of catholic saints or, if placed inside a car, used in lieu of a car freshener (though one must remember to rid of these before decomposition).

the poor would often instruct their daughters to make and sell these garlands. each would sell about seven cents ($0.07) and it was customary to sell them in batches of 5 strings. If the girl sells five dollars ($5) worth, she’ll be able to buy a meal of rice and fish for her family of about, say, five people.

back to our little girl tapping on the windshield, i didn’t have enough coins to buy a batch, but, i did have a half-eaten hamburger.

even if the burger was from an american franchise, in the third-world standard, the patty’s about a cookie thick, the barest of mayo, a slice of pickle between buns.

while most would be offended by my following action, please consider, on the other hand, that she may never have even tasted an “american” burger her whole life.

i gave the half-eaten burger to her and her eyes lit up and she just grinned from ear to ear.

and to my surprise, she wanted to give me 5 garlands in return. i smiled back and said no thanks. the lights turned green and i sped off feeling blessed and shamed at her generosity.