Yesterday evening, I stood by the counter waiting for my order in a non-chain fast food restaurant in the shadow of Wrigley and the Nettlehorst School on the eastern edge of Rahm's old Congressional district. I didn't notice the boy sidling up to me until he spoke, "Please,...I'm hungry...." Taken aback by the oddity of this slight 9-11 year old African American boy alone at this time, in this restaurant, in this youthful, hip neighborhood, I only caught every 5th word of his murmurings. I glanced around in the restaurant but didn't see any parent. Was his parent waiting outside to collect any money the child this child could beg, like the romany beggars use their children for sympathy and money in Europe?
While I paused my skittering mind, I asked him if he would like me to buy him dinner. Yes, he nodded with relief. Wow, I thought, he really is hungry and not just begging for money for a parent's drugs or his own. I looked at the menu, hummus, no, shwarma no, what would a kid do with schwarma. "Have you ever eaten falafel before?" "Do you like chicken?" I asked and gotten a murmured incomprehensible answer and then finally a nod. I ordered a meal for him, "to go" as he wanted, and then sent him off with the cup to fill from the pop machine. This was surreal. Did any of the 20-some year olds also waiting notice what was going on? Did they just assume that I was his mom or his caretaker? What has happened to this world that there is a 10 year old having to beg for food? I asked the woman behind the counter, "Do you know him? Has he been here before?" She nodded in assent and then said somethings but in a broken English that I couldn't completely understand.
So we waited for our take-out orders. The 10 year boy and me. I had #11 and he had #14. He said, "I'm 4 stops from yours" speaking about our order numbers giving me some clue in his choice of words that his speaking difficulties might not just be my befuddled mind and ears.
I keep seeing him walking alone down the dark street with his bag of food. I wish I'd done more, asked more questions, ascertained that he had a safe place to sleep. Would questions have scared him away? I don't know. Did he demonstrate street smarts in approaching the one matronly customer in the restaurant for help - yes - but did I do enough to help him - no.
I only know that there is no good explanation for a young child to be begging for food in my neighborhood. There are no homeless shelters for people with children in my middle-class Lakeview neighborhood. If his parents receive benefits, the benefits shouldn't be run out by October 7.
Having lived, played and worked in various neighborhoods throughout Chicago for over a decade, I'm used to seeing homeless people. And most of the time, the homeless begging were clearly suffering from mental illnesses and often self-medicating. But it's clear our economy has had an impact -- with the number of people begging and sleeping on the El, a father-and-son on touristy Michigan Ave asking for money to my encounter last night -- these used not to be usual occurences. And I've been so broken by my own experience with unemployment that I doubt in anyone in Washington recognizes and/or cares.
Postscript: Thank you for all the kind words in the comments. Many have described their own experiences with panhandlers. Like some of you, I've fallen for the "gas money" trick once before. I've also encountered one or two in past years who said they were hungry but refused my offer to buy them food ...if they say they are hungry but don't want food bought or given to them, then I am less likely to give. I still will give money at times, if I have it, to those who ask for money without saying they are hungry -- there are costs to life beyond food. BUT it's worse out there now and I'm seeing many more than I have in the past. And I've never seen a child like that in America before...and right in my own neighborhood -- dear God, what happened to the hope we had in 2008?