On my way out of the gym today, I was accosted by two teenage boys who were raising money for some charity. I don't remember the name of the charity, but the one who did the talking told me that it has something to do with teaching kids family values. They were selling sun catchers for donations.
I kind of wanted to ask what organization teaches kids that they don't need to be in school in the middle of the day, but maybe it was an in-service day or something. But that's beside the point.
They seemed like nice kids; they were very polite, and they were patiently standing outside on a cold day to do this. Normally, if asked, I'll pony up a few bucks for charity if I've got it. Today, unfortunately, I didn't. I just got back from vacation and am out of cash except for a few coins. I said I was sorry, but I only had ten cents in my wallet. They asked if I'd be willing to donate the ten cents.
I looked in my wallet and found out that I actually only had six cents. I gave it to them, and they thanked me as they might have if I'd given them ten or twenty dollars. I apologized that I couldn't give more, and one said to me, "it's the heart behind it, not the amount."
It kind of made me wish I had lied about only having six cents. I walked away feeling worse than I would have if I'd just rudely brushed past them. I almost hope that as I got into my car, the boys looked at each other, shrugged and snidely called me a cheapskate.
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