Yesterday I was hanging out behind the counter at Urban Cottage with Ms Gail and Heather D. We were having a grand ole time eating nachos from Taco Mac, flipping through the new Sundance catalog, sipping Coke Colas, speculating on whether or not a particular good looking male customer was heterosexual... when suddenly Murray came into the store.
Murray is a Virginia Highland neighborhood celebrity, or what some might refer to as a street person, or a bum. I don't live in Virginia Highland (aka VaHi), so I was a little shocked the first few times I witnessed my VaHi friends giving him the keys to their cars. Turns out Murray "owns a corporation" (car wash). He has washed my car a few times, and in all seriousness, he really does an outstanding job.
He has very black skin and carries a backpack. He usually wears a bandana on his head, and if it's hot outside he puts it in his pocket and uses it to wipe sweat from his forehead. When I'm driving to work, I recognize his carefree body language if I see him walking down the sidewalk. He always smiles and waves.
We suspect he likes to buy beers at the Chevron with his extra money. We are pretty sure he doesn't get into liquor or hard drugs, because we've been interacting with him for almost 2 years now, and he's always steady and calm and happy.
He has never come inside the store to ask us for anything. As a matter of fact, he rarely asks us for anything at all, because he knows we'll catch up with him on the sidewalk and we enjoy giving him a few extra dollars here and there.
So yesterday he came inside the store and asked Ms Gail for five dollars. Ms Gail paused and said, "not today Murray." Murray said he understood, and walked outside. Ms Gail was heartbroken, she really wanted to give him the money, but it is against the unspoken rules of the VaHi business association to give streetpeople money inside the stores.
Later in the afternoon Ms Gail spotted him on the sidewalk across the street from the store. She took five dollars out of the drawer and asked me to give it to him. She had a feeling he really needed it. There were cars coming, so by the time I crossed the street, Murray had disappeared. I followed the path he was most likely to take, and called his name at the next intersection.
I saw someone stop on the sidewalk, and I walked toward him with the cash in my hand. I said, "Murray, we found something for you." and I gave him the cash. He looked me in the eye with a smile that I will never forget, and he said, "Thank you, Carla." Murray always smiles. But this one was a smile of the deepest gratitude I've ever seen.
When I got back to the store Ms Gail said, "Five bucks isn't going to really do anything for any of us. But it will change his life for a few hours."
Today's visual aid features cash found in the laundry a few weeks ago. At first it was six dollars found in the lint filter. Then six more dollars on the carpet next to the detergent. Then fives and ones started flying out of the dryer. I remember how happy I was when unexpected money came out of my washer and dryer, and maybe that is how Murray feels sometimes.
The 2009 holiday cards are now ready to ship.
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