Alex, I also used to give one half of my peanut butter and jelly sandwich to a bum who waited for me to get off the streetcar everyday when I worked as a sorter at the Rincon Annex Post Office (San Fran).
But he never ever thanked me nor did he teach me anything other than - sometimes bums are rude critters.
At least you got to learn something. So count your blessings.
Last time I helped a hungry guy, I brought him a Big Mac and a choclate shake and gave it to him outside of McDonald's.
He took a look at it and said, "What the fuck is this?!"
I guess he wanted a Happy Meal.
Are you still assisting the needy? If you see me, I like the Subway 12 incher with tuna and everything on it.
Thanks!
One last thing .... I have never gone a day when I didn't have three good meals. I've never experienced real hunger, and it does fuck up my head when I see hungry people on the streets, so I alway look for someone who looks hungry when I go into some fast food joint and order an extra something and politely surrender it as I walk past.
So maybe that bum that got half my peanut butter sandwich a long time ago taught me something after all. Bums do work in mysterious ways and sometimes I don't think that they're real bums at all. Something more like teachers for guys such as myself who's never gone to bed with a growling stomach.