Tooth Brushes and Hand Sanitizer

One day about 16 years ago I took my 2 children, 10 months and 3 years old, to Burger King for cookies and milk. It was the Spring and the kids liked to play (crawl) in the outside gym. As we left to go home I saw an old man in the parking lot scrounging through the garbage. I held on tightly to one daughter's hand while I carried the other in an infant seat. I noticed his torn flannel shirt, his unshaven face, the old shoes and dirty pants. As we walked passed him he looked up at me with one hand still in the garbage can. I felt a surge of sympathy for this man who had to pick through the discarded scraps left by others for his meal. I stopped and asked him if I could buy him a hamburger. He grumbled, "Hamburger - Hello!" (I added the o.) "I lost my teef!" It took me a second to register what he was telling me. He continued, "I done throwed them in the trash!" What could I do? I put down my daughters and helped him find his teef, I mean teeth, that he had wrapped in a napkin and accidentally throwed, I mean threw, in the trash. After about a minute, I yelled, "I think I found them! Ewww, I mean, here you go." He quickly took them from me and without hesitation (or washing) he put them in his mouth and smiled at me. I said, "Well, we need to go now. Have a nice day." My 3 year old, who was forever asking me questions, asked, "Where are we going, Mommy?" I answered, "To get tooth brushes and hand sanitizer, Sweetie."