Bright Side of Chicago
Meet Chris.
Chris has one leg. He wanders around Chicago Chinatown on his crutches—and probably is homeless.
Of course, I can’t be certain. I really don’t know if he has a home because I only met him once when he was crossing the road. But I knew for sure he was the one to receive an iPod Nano. This isn’t one of those online congratulations-you-just-win-an-iPod ads. This is real. Chris really was going to get an iPod just because we crossed paths.
Though it wasn’t my iPod. Not my friends’ either. After checking out dim sum at Chinatown’s famous Triple Crown, Afsaneh, Daniel and I found a little girl’s iPod dropped on the street. Afsaneh picked it up, not knowing what to do. She said we needed to figure out the iPod’s faith. My first instinct: just give it to a homeless person—and I bet there are plenty in Chinatown.
But I didn’t say it. I thought it would sound silly because an iPod isn’t a $20 bill—something you can give to a beggar without looking suspicious. Instead, I made it clear, “I’m not keeping it. I don’t think we should keep it.”
Why? Because I don’t feel comfortable keeping something I know belongs to other people—especially when it carries such a high price tag. I cannot cope with the fact that the person, in this case a little girl, was going neurotic because she couldn’t find her iPod Nano. Most importantly, I don’t need it. I don’t have an iPod, but I know someone would need it more than I do.
After spending about 10 minutes discussing the faith of the iPod Nano, we decided to walk around Chinatown to find the lucky homeless person. That’s when we met Chris.
It was a spectacular sight: three tourists running after a one-legged person, shouting out “Excuse me, Mister.”
Oh yes, Chris was flabbergasted. But he was happy. He didn’t know how to use the iPod. He didn’t even know that he couldn’t just go to an Apple Store to have them put music on his iPod. Afsaneh had to teach him.
And we were happy. We thought it was the best thing that had happened to us that day—even better than Triple Crown’s dim sum.
So, what do you guys think about this decision? Was it worthless? Should we give it to someone else instead?
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I think it’s a good idea, though I don’t know if Chris is going to get too much out of an iPod. Also, I wonder about the girl who now no longer has an iPod… haha.
Thank you for your thoughts
We were thinking that, if he didn’t want it, he could sell it and use that money to buy food. I wonder about the little girl, too. I feel bad she lost her iPod, but I mean, there’s no way we were going to find her.
But if he were to sell it, would he get the full worth of the iPod? I’m betting not. And would he really use the money he got from the iPod to buy food? Clothing? Or for drugs? Gambling? It’s hard for us to tell. If Chris is really homeless, how will he charge the iPod? How will he buy music for it?
I like the idea of doing something noble with the lost iPod, and I’m all for not using it for your own purposes. I’m just not certain if giving it to a homeless person is the best choice. Perhaps next time you find an iPod you could check out a some sort of charity?
http://www.recyclingforcharities.com/
I just found this off google, but it looks like a pretty good starting point. Even though I can’t vouch for it completely, I’m betting an iPod would end up as more than drug money. Maybe it would even go back to another little kid–one who wants an iPod but their family can’t afford to buy it for them. For Chris, it’s likely that what he needed was not an iPod, but instead food and shelter.
OMG, Eric. How come I had never thought of that before—the fact that he also needs a charger for his new iPod? Now I see your point clearly. Haha, I can’t believe I was so blinded by the fact that I had done something great that I totally forgot about such simple fact like iPod needs to be charged. Yeah, sending it to charity would probably be a better idea. Thank you so much for sharing this site with you. I wish you were there to guide us.
Well, at least you guys did something that came from the heart, so it’s definitely still a good thing. I think that the intentions behind your actions are clearly displayed and the girl who lost the iPod would be happy with what became of it.
Eric,
I offered to take the iPod and sell it to raise money for my charity (I’m building a park in my hometown as a city beautification project) but Sam did not trust me.
I think he (Chris) will enjoy the iPod and then pass it on to someone else who will appreciate it. It’s the chain of charity!