1) good / 2) bad

1) Last night I went to get Chinese food with Paul and his friend. I always have food left over when I eat there, and get a to away container. This time I took my own container. When the waiter/owner asked if he could put it in a box for me, I felt a little awkward pulling out my container, but his face lit up.

"Oh! Very good! You care about the environment!" he said, and then talked about how he takes a zip-loc bag of detergent when he goes to the laundromat instead of buying small containers. He was genuinely pleased, so I felt good about that...I imagine at some point I'll hear that it's against a health code or restaurant policy or something, but not at this restaurant.

2) Tonight I went to the Warehouse a little late. As soon as I pulled in, a panhandler stationed himself outside my car door, pointing at his ears to show he couldn't hear. When I opened the door he showed me a note saying he needed three dollars for the bus. I gave him two, because I had it, but I didn't think he was deaf, or that he was going to catch the bus. Maybe he was deaf, but when I left an hour and a half later, he was going into the bar, so I know he didn't take a bus. These kind of interactions, leave me feeling crappy. Someone lies to me and asks me for money. i know they are lying, but I give them money so I don't feel cheap and mean, but that's just about me--its not coming from any place good, and that's what the person is preying on. And I don't trust that they're asking for it for anything good...it's just both of us displaying human nature--not at its worst or anything--just at its most meaningless and mediocre.