The Old Lady At The Church (Knocking At Hearts)

     There’s a church near the office that I visit at least once a week. And I regularly see an old, wrinkled  lady,  begging in one of the church’s gates. She would stretch her arm while sitting in one of the concrete planters of the church near the gate, knocking at the hearts of the passersby which include me. But I  would always just ignore her. I have long stopped giving alms after I watched a TV documentary years ago that confirmed that most beggars were controlled by a syndicate, which kidnapped babies and children to serve as props for their (nefarious) begging activities. By giving alms, the TV program said, you’re encouraging these people to steal more babies from the hospitals, kidnap kids from the streets and abuse old people. You see those women, carrying a baby, knocking at cars stuck in traffic? Those weren’t really their babies, most likely. Before, I would hand out alms (just loose change in my pocket) to any beggars I saw.

     But then, the image of the old lady slumped near the church's gate,  beseeching everyone with an iota of kindness in their heart to please spare her some change so she could probably eat finally succeeded in changing my mind. I could make her an exception, I thought. So when I visited the office again, I prepared a twenty peso bill for her (giving her more than twenty pesos would severely affect my financial standing), I couldn't care less if ten of that twenty would go to a syndicate, if a syndicate's behind her, at least she still got ten. But what if the thugs got all the twenty? Damn you, thugs!  But when I reached the church, she was nowhere to be seen.

     Two more weeks had passed since then and still, I didn’t see her. Where is she? Hopefully, she just found a more lucrative and comfortable spot to beg or better still, that someone’s taking care of her now or she’s just taking a much-needed vacation in a private resort, basking in the sun or just enjoying her favorite cocktail. 

     So what to do with my twenty now? I'm thinking of buying a Cornetto.