ONLY IN DELAWARE

Gentry: I've been meaning to tell you a few things

Jeffrey Gentry
The News Journal
Family

A couple of things I’ve wanted to share but I’ve been a little busy .....

Three times in the past two weeks I have been approached by the same woman outside of the Wawa at Beaver Brook Plaza on U.S. 13 south of New Castle.

Three times. Same woman. And each time it was the same story.

Her: I’m hungry. Could I have some money so I can get something to eat?

Me (coffee and breakfast sandwich in hand): What do you want to eat? I’ll go in and ...

Her (interrupting): I want five dollars to get some fried chicken wings from the place up the road.

Me (thinking she’s being a little picky): Sorry, I don’t have any cash but if you want a sandwich from inside, I’ll .....

At the “I don’t have any cash” point, she was already looking around for someone else to ask and I was just talking to the trashcan she had been standing beside.

Panhandling mom preys on desire to help

The second morning she asked me, we went through the same routine.

The third morning she asked me, and I didn’t even bother to offer to buy. I just said I don’t carry cash and kept walking. I really wanted to tell her to just go stand next to the fried chicken place up the road and if I see her there one morning, I’d stop and buy her the wings.

I may even get some myself. It’s my favorite part of the chicken. The whole fried chicken wings from Redner’s are my favorite, hands down. Splash some Crystal hot sauce (not wing sauce) on them and you have little fried pieces of heaven.

But I digress into my own vices .....

Anyway, the chicken place she is talking about – New York Fried Chicken – is almost exactly a half mile north of the Wawa.

Yes, I measured. Almost exactly a half mile.

Close enough to sound like a realistic request but far enough away that busy people who want to help the “hungry woman” aren’t going to walk or drive there and buy her the food. So if they still want to feel like they helped the “hungry woman,” they are more likely to hand over some cash.

I think we all know that anyone who does hand over the cash is not really helping her. She’d be better off getting one of Braeden’s Brown Bags with food and helpful items than five dollars from you or me.

Moving on ...

As you all know by now, Vice President Joe Biden decided not to make another run for president. Although I appreciate his ability to bring sides together and his experience and believe he would be a good president, I think he made the right decision.

Not that my opinion matters on this, but for me it would have been like watching a favorite boxing champ keep slugging away for one too many fights. He has served all of us for more than four decades. And I’m sure he will find ways to continue that service. But now he will also have time to heal and help his family heal from their loss of Beau Biden earlier this year.

Gentry: We all feel it when a good man dies

It’s one of my favorite things about Joe Biden. His recognition of the importance of family. Through the good times and bad. Through the tears of joy and tears of grief. Through the holiday dinners and the holiday squabbles. Family is family. Thanks, Joe.

Finally – and for me, most importantly – a thank you to the doctors, nurses and all the other medical and non-medical staff at Wilmington Hospital. My family – and there may be more of us than there are Bidens – appreciates everything you have been doing for Mama Gentry while she has been in your care these past two weeks.

She hasn’t even complained about the food.

Well, maybe once. Or twice.

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