A funny thing about giving

There was a period of time in my life when I benefited from some lunches at a soup kitchen. If you could call it that — all the bums in Petaluma called the Mary Isaak Center the “Mariot Isaak Center”.

The homeless shelter received leftovers from Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. Some of the best hot meals I’ve had, and all you want salads and sushi to grab and go. Not too shabby. Every day you could check out clothes that were donated — I scored a pair of Versace jeans.

While waiting in line for grass-fed meatballs with shaved Parmesan Reggiano, I mentioned how great it was they were doing this. In an angry tone, the guy next to me said, “they’re not doing this for you, man, they’re doing this for them. It makes them feel good about themselves.”

He said it like it was a bad thing, to feel good about doing something kind for others…