It was 5:20 PM and a man stopped me on the Roberts Street bridge. I was on the brisk walk from my office to my truck, parked across the river in the $1.75 lot. His girlfriend has passed by first, leaning on the concrete rail to rest her tired body. I nodded my customary hello to her, but she wasn’t looking. I nodded to the man and he smiled, then waved to stop me. He started his speech by saying that he wasn’t homeless or anything, his girlfriend and him just needed some help. 30 cents would do. I had to cut him off to tell him I had no money, which was true. I spent the last of my money on a Father’s Day card. My wallet was empty and I was going to have to go to the bank so I could pay for parking for the rest of the week.

At hearing I was broke the man thanked me and continued on his way. I turned away and continued briskly along the Roberts Street bridge. It was true. I didn’t have any money. I might have had a few dollars in my truck, but that was it. As I walked I kept repeating to myself that I didn’t have any money. I’m just a poor college student trying to get through the day. The lunch bag I was carrying was even empty. If he was hungry and homeless I couldn’t even have given him a cracker.

But as I kept walking away I realized I didn’t know what he needed. He said he only needed 30 cents. Maybe he just needed bus fare. The way his girlfriend was walking she could have been ill.

A woman’s scream interrupted my thoughts and for a moment I pictured the ill girlfriend heaving herself over the Roberts Street bridge. If only I had done something.

I looked back over my shoulder and the man and woman were still walking along the bridge. The scream had come from somewhere else.

If he only needed bus fare I could have helped him. I could have at least heard him out. I didn’t even know what his name was. What did Jesus say? Whatever you do for the least of these you do for me. I cut Jesus off mid-sentence and left him high and dry.

Some people tell you not to carry a lot of cash when you’re downtown. I’ve heard of others who are sure to carry extra cash in case they run in to someone in need. Whatever you do for the least of these. I may have been broke, but couldn’t I have done something?

If Jesus passed you on the Roberts Street bridge and asked for thirty cents, would you have helped him out?