“But why, Mommy, why?!”

With his little 6-year old hand in mine, Atticus looked curiously at the old man sitting next to the corner Pizza Nova.

King and Strachan was a busy intersection, with many cars going south on Strachan to get to the highway and many well-dressed professionals taking the King streetcar to get to work on Bay Street in the Financial District.

We were on the way to his school, where I would drop him off and then head to work. He had his backpack on, with his water bottle, snacks, and lunch. I didn’t often get to walk him to school, so it was a really nice opportunity to have alone time and chat about the drama at school, or the games he was playing at recess, or anything he wanted to, really. It was so nice to hear his chatter and hold his little hand in mine.

Atti stopped suddenly, which caused me to be pulled to a stop as well. Other people on the sidewalk behind us were in a rush but quickly adjusted by walking around us. Slightly embarrassed at being a bottleneck, I gently guided him to the side by a building, where we then looked at each other for a minute, me down at his innocent face and him up at my quizzical eyebrow.

“So… whassup, kiddo? Why did you suddenly stop?”

“Why is that man sitting there at Pizza Nova, Mommy?”

“Well, he has his hat out and is hoping people will give him some money.”

“Why?”

“He could be homeless or very poor. He may not have enough money to buy himself something to eat.”

“Why not?”

“Well, not everyone can get jobs. Or maybe he had a health issue that made it hard for him to keep his job. In any case, he is not as lucky as we are. You can have food whenever you want and you can have a safe warm place to sleep at night. Not everyone is as lucky as we are.”

I gently picked up his hand to start walking again towards school. He looked back at the man with tears in his eyes. He walked forward, but his head would turn back, like his heart was still with the man sitting on the sidewalk.

“Mommy, I just saw somebody give him money.”

“Yes,” I replied, “Some people may give him some money, some people may buy him a pizza and a coffee. Most people just keep walking.”

“What? But why, Mommy, why?”

“Well sweetie, not everyone feels like they should give money to people on the street, because there are services that actually can take care of them. And some people worry that they will buy things like cigarettes and alcohol instead of food.”

“Do you think he will buy cigarettes and alcohol if we give him money?”

“I don’t know, honey.”

“Can I give him some money, Mommy?”

I looked at my watch and did a quick mental check, noting that we would have enough time to get to school, but would have to stand quietly during the Canadian anthem. I calculated the prep time I needed for my first meeting that morning. But then I looked at his earnest eyes and said, “Yes, of course.”

Atticus excitedly took the tonnie from my gloved hands and ran back to give the man his coin. The man looked up at Atti and then turned his head to look at me. He smiled and nodded a thanks.

Atti skipped back to me with a grin on his face.

“Mommy, it felt good to give him some money, but now I feel like we have to help all the people who need to eat.”

“I love that you feel that way Atti, when we get home, let’s look up how we can help those in need. There are a lot of charities and non-profit organizations that are set up to help those in need. Love you kiddo."