what's a [Christian] boy to do?

i got on the bus today. there was a fellow passenger who appeared to be down on his luck, to apply a trite euphemism. i'll say it: he looked and smelled homeless. my first reaction was, "i wonder why he's on a campus bus." he certainly would be out of place at any duke bus stop. anyway, my second reaction was, "do i help this guy? how do i go about it? what do i offer him? will i offend him?" anyway, i pondered this and, of course, did not act. i had myself convinced that i would have helped him had he asked. i would have given him the four dollars on my person if he wanted money. i thought about offering him the opportunity to take a shower at my apartment, some clothes and some food. but i didn't. i thought that it'd be a great opportunity to share love and, incidentally, to lend creedence to my claim of being a compassionate conservative. but i left him alone. maybe that's the way he wanted it. maybe not.