His voice was soft, almost a mumble, but I heard enough to understand. 

The stranger standing near the doors to Marshall’s in Monticello was asking for money. 

The family walking between us kept on going. Maybe they hadn’t heard him. Maybe they didn’t want to. Either way, it was clear they weren’t going to respond. It was up to me.

I stopped. I looked him in the eye. I told him the truth. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have any cash on me.” 

This time I heard him clearly. “Thank you,” he said. 

By the time I exited the store 20 minutes later, he was gone, but he was still on my mind a day later when I picked up the weekender edition of The Democrat. 

Topping the front page was new data on food insecurity in our county: as many as one in seven residents lack consistent access to food. The number rises to one in four for our community’s children. Just below it was an article about a Town of Thompson board vote on a proposed law to curb “aggressive” panhandling. 

One article counted the hungry in our community. The second proposed one way to respond to them, a law to punish them for asking for help too loudly. 

“The measure, Proposed Local Law No. 3 of 2026, would have added Chapter 171, titled ‘Panhandling, Aggressive,’ to the Town of Thompson code,” reporter Patricio Robayo’s article notes. 

Aggressive. 

I thought about the man and his mumbling. I thought about the people passing him by without a glance in his direction. I thought about that thank you, even when I’d delivered bad news. 

The Thompson measure failed to pass. We won't be punishing anyone for asking.

The family by the doors didn't punish him either. They just kept walking.