Cincinnati is a very large city, but it has a relatively small downtown (think Detroit). I've started to recognize the homeless people that I see when I walk downtown and those who live on my street. It's too bad that I don't know their names, but I'm begining to create names for some of them. Many of them keep to themselves, with their shopping carts, and those are the ones with severe mental illness. They are usually spotted yelling at nobody. My favorite is a woman who wears orange shorts.

Then there are the people who stop you to ask for money. They are sneaky, they ask for 50 cents, or a dollar for something to eat, and then ask for more when they see you open your wallet. They say, I am trying to get on a bus. But they look like people who are not planning to get on any bus anytime soon. I don't know what to say, because I don't want to get into the habit of giving away my dwindling savings, and yet, I can't say "I don't have any money" because clearly, I have money. I just want to turn to them and say, "I don't have a job either. I can't help you, buddy." But I don't really think that quickly. I'm thinking of compiling a pamphlet of services for the homeless in Cinci and handing it to people who ask for money.