Chance Encounter with a Veteran

This morning on my way to work, I stopped at a red light at the intersection of two very busy four-lane roads. At the corner, there was a thin elderly man in a wheelchair, wearing one of those baseball caps with "World War II Veteran" embroidered across it. He was holding one of his hands like a bowl, and with his other hand, he was scooping out of his bowl-shaped hand, raising it to his mouth and opening it like he was going to eat. I quickly realized he was asking for food. I remembered that I had a FiberOne bar in my purse, and I grabbed it and held it up so he could see. He smiled and nodded, and I motioned for him to come get it. I rolled down the window and he rolled over to my car and took the FiberOne bar and said, "God bless you!" 

I usually don't ever make eye contact with folks begging on the side of the road, but this was different. The man wasn't holding a sign asking for money or work. He was simply indicating that he was hungry. The irony that he had on a World War II Veteran baseball cap and was begging for food on the Friday before Memorial Day was just too much for me to bear. Sure, he may have gotten that hat at a thrift store or a yard sale, or he could really be a veteran. I wasn't risking it. My only regret is that I didn't have more food to give him.