Coming out of a retail shopping strip mall store, I hear these words coming from a couple of stores away, “Hey, lend me a dollar.”

      Two young boys, twelve or so, sitting outside a bagel store, one of them had said to me, “Hey, lend me a dollar.”

      Get in your car and drive away. That’s what you would do.

      Well, that’s not what I did.

      I got in my car, but I couldn’t let it stand. I rolled down the windows, forty feet or so away, and made several loud statements to the boys.

      “Why the heck should I LOAN you anything?
     “You should loan me a dollar. You can pay for those bagels.”

      I got out of the car and stood with the open door between the boys and me, and continued,
      “Won’t your mama be proud of raising little beggars? And several other things I can not remember.

      I got no answer.

      Now, what would you do?

      Get in your car and drive away. That’s what you would do.

      Well, that’s not what I did.

      Well, I did get in my car and drove away, but something in me wouldn’t let it go. I got on the phone, found the number of the bagel shop and called, while I drove throughout the parking lot.

      I asked the nice lady who answered the phone if she knew that she had a couple of beggars outside her shop. She answered with a tentative “No”.

      I told her of my incident with the boys earlier and thought she would want to know. I mentioned that I said to the boys, that they should loan me a dollar, and that their moms would be so proud to be raising little beggars.

      Then, she said to me with a not so tentative, “I will take care of it. Thank you for calling”.

      Self satisfied, and still driving the parking lot, I drove by the boys and waved, sort of. As I was driving away I saw a lady come out of the shop. I did not see what happened after that. I drove away.

      Because I am sometimes slow about things, I later figured that the lady was probably one of the boy’s moms, or that’s my guess. Now, self satisfaction gave way to thoughts of how the mom felt when I called. Should I have called? Should I have said anything to the boys in the first place?

      Should I have called?

      Yes I should. Wouldn’t you want to know if someone was actually outside your business pan-handling? Wouldn’t you, as a mom, want to know your son was approaching strangers and asking for money? I would. In a world far away and far more dangerous, four young men asked a subway rider for five dollars. One of them is still paralyzed today. Their mom may be old enough to remember Bernhard Goetz, even if the boys didn’t have a clue.

      Should I have said anything to the boys in the first place? Probably not.

      Let it go would have been good advice to myself, but I am not sure I would have listened. I should have done what you would do: get in my car and leave.

      But I didn’t, and probably will not if it should happen again, which I hope it will not. I should have gone to the shop a told the manager in person. No words for the boys.

      Don’t the boys need to know that people they meet, may not all act in a kind and giving spirit? Don’t the boys need to know that asking strangers for money is wrong, or potentially dangerous? Or has the world changed so much that early teens should get money from strangers by asking. Why do they think others will gleefully give away their money to well dressed adolescent guys hanging outside a bagel shop?

      Now you know what I did, and what I would do, so…

      What would you do?