Well here it is, Christmas Day 2011. The hustle and bustle of all of the holiday shoppers along Chicago's "Magnificent Mile" has subsided, and as I look out the window, overlooking the Water Tower's Plaza, with all of it's lights now extinguished as the early morning sun rises, I can't help but wonder, "Where have all of the Cup Guys gone".
Who are the "Cup Guys" you might ask? Well they are the ones who are scattered throughout the downtown area, shaking their cups, hoping some passer buy will put some spare change in it. I nick named this group of individuals because of how interesting they are to watch. Oh, please don't misconstrue what I am writing herein, I am not trying to make light of someone who is down on their luck, but I am a student of human behavior and I have made some interesting observations.
There is one enterprizing fellow who does not really ask for money, he asks for cigarrettes, and/or a lighter. Once he has enough of these, he sells them to the other Cup Guys for a quarter. Four cigarretts is a buck, and a pack is five dollars. At the end of the day he might have fourty or fifty dollars in his pocket. He'll also ask for a penny so he can make up the difference he needs to get a cup of coffee or a sandwich. Usually people don't have the penny, but will give him a dime or a quarter.
There is another fellow who lays out cardboard on the sidewalk of a busy intersection, and puts up a display of pictures of his family. He seems to be in his late twenties, and he says he has two daughters, is out of work, and needs to feed them. But while waiting on the corner for a friend of mine, and idly watching him, I noticed an interesting thing. It seems that each Cup Guy has his OWN territory that is NOT invaded by other Cup Guys. This fellow with the daughters (pictures and all), all of a sudden neatly folded up everything and left a note that read......Pete, I am going to Wendy's, be back in five........There is no comment I can make about this, you'll have to judge the behavior for yourself.
On another corner was a lady in a motorized wheel chair. She had her cup in hand and was sitting in front of the Dunkin Donuts. Next to her was another motorized wheel chair. It was empty, but had a fresh dozen donuts, next to the empty cup, on the seat......I wondered, "Where did this guy go? Did he walk into the donut shop to get the coffee?
Further down the street is another lady in her sixties. She patiently sits on the curb of the church parking lot, pleasently greets each and every passer by with her cup in hand, gently giving it a shake as people approach.....but I also noticed that she received a call on her cell phone and answered it with much excitement, entering into deep conversation. Can cup donations support a cell phone bill?
And finally there is the Crown Royal Cup Guy. I call him this because as you walk buy he will pleasently greet you, wish you a great day and ask you if you want to donate to the Crown Royal fund....now the interesting thing about this guy is that there is no cup shaking activity until you start to approach. The closer you get the more he shakes. As you pass him buy the shaking subsides the further you get away. He is there daily.
Now it should be noted that the Cup Guys adhere to set schedules according to the shopping traffic. Being in a downtown touristy area, people are more populus during the week in the late afternoon and early evening, but on the week-ends, Friday and Saturday nights it seems to be a more productive time to ask people for money. And the cup guys are there rain or shine, no matter what the weather. There is no attendance problem to this job, and in some ways it is a job. I guess what I am saying here is that although it is sad that some folks have to live this way, they do work for that meager existance that they are able to scratch out.
Sometimes a family will walk by a "Cup Guy", and pass him by. The children utter something to their parents, and shortly thereafter the child will scurry back to him and place a dollar or two into his cup. As they walk away there is a smile on the childs face. As if to say it felt good helping someone else less fortunate that they.
One sad note though. While walking through an alley the other day between two high rises, I noticed a lot of groceries strewn about. There were canned goods, bags of staples like rice and beans, noodles and the such, and an empty box of cookies and chocolates. I did not know what to make of this until I realized it was a distribution from a food pantry....such a waste, when you think of the time, effort, and charity that was expended to make it available.
I wish I could say that this behavior is having some positive effect on the lives of the individuals who participate in this activity. I wish I could say that I saw some sort of productive result, bettering the life of the "Cup Guy" and his family, but sad to say I really don't.........
