The Apple

The apple…
I needed to get some groceries tonight but didn’t have enough time after work and before dinner to do my run and also do a shop so I decided to combine the two tasks. It’s cooled down considerably with the monsoons so it is bearable to run in the evenings now. The temperature is around 30 to 32 and the humidity is 70-95% according to the news tonight. That sounds hot but really it’s a lot cooler than it was and feels cool enough to use the geyser in the mornings (that’s the hot water tank that hangs above my tub, you turn it on a few minutes before the shower to get hot water). Anyway, I took the list of groceries from Susanah and along with my visa went for my run. I typically run in the military secured area behind the apartment as there isn’t a lot of traffic. There aren’t enough roads to make a good run without either lapping the route several times or else going out onto a busier road for a couple hundred metres so I often do a bit of both, loops and busy streets for a short distance. Anyway tonight I was trying to plan the time so that I would end up at the food store after 45 minutes so I ended up doing a loop past this one spot about three times. There was a lady sitting on the sidewalk begging and each time I passed her she held out a hand for something. I indicated I had no money each time and kept running. I finished the run and headed to the store with my list and bought three big bags worth of groceries and started to walk home. I soon realized that I was going to have to pass the lady I had told three times that I had no money with my arms full of food. I didn’t want to try to explain that I had paid with visa or pull out my card for someone to grab so I took an apple out of the bag and had it ready for her. As I neared her I could see that she saw me with the bags and was dealing with the dissonance of what I had said and then walking along with bags of food. As I was reaching into the bag to proudly pull out this ice cold big juicy apple she smiled simultaneously with me producing the fruit. Just as I handed it to her I noticed she had a toothless smile that was changing to a frown of displeasure at the useless piece of food. It was rather awkward and I didn’t have anything else I could give her easily so I left feeling pretty horrible. Lesson learned, always carry small rupees!!