No cash but good snacks
 
At a stoplight in a 5-way intersection, a man holding a sign raises his eyebrows at a car waiting at the light. The woman meets his eyes and quickly gestures to her middle console with an eagerness that says she’s never come across someone asking for money before.
 
She scrambles around, rooting for the snacks she’s purchased just for this occasion. She hands him a bag of candy and starts rattling off the specs. The light turns green so she rolls forward and doubles her talking speed, “there’s only 4 grams of sugar in the whole bag! The whole thing’s only 100 calories! And they use natural dyes and stuff and they’re not even that expensive! You can get them on Amazon for only...” her voice fades and the man stands there trying to decide how to feel about the bag of knock-off Swedish Fish.
 
Asheville, NC
2021