wishbone clover

$24 + $1 -$1

After giving away my first $1, I found a stray $1 waltzing down Mariposa Street. Back up to $25.

Yesterday night after dinner, a homeless guy on the corner of 18th and Guerrero, across from Tartine, asked for spare change.

"What'll you use it for?" I asked.

"Something," he said. "I'll find something!"

Technically, the constraints of the project call for some clarity around intent. But I had already shown this guy the dollar, and felt bad about now refusing it. Maybe he was going to spend it on crack, maybe he was going to spend it on a strawberry milkshake. An answer would have made for a more interesting post, but I gave him the dollar anyhow.

Tally: $24

The $25 Project: $25 minus $1

The other day I found $25 on the street, one $5 folded into a $20.

This was a rare occurrence; I can't remember the last time I found a wrinkled old dollar wafting in the breeze, much less twenty-five clams.

I picked up the bills and looked around to see if there was anyone nearby who might have dropped it. No luck. An old man walked up behind me. I asked him if the money was his.

"It's yours now," he said.

"Maybe I should leave it at the botanica in case someone asks for it?"

"No," he said. "They would keep it, and no one would ask there."

(In case you are wondering, this man exists. He wore a hat.)

$25 still seemed like too much to pocket. Extra money + need to spend creatively = project.

So I'm giving money to whomever asks me for it, until I run out of the original $25. Probably most of these people will be homeless, but if you were to walk up to me in a bar and ask for a drink during this magical period, I would buy one for you. Here's the rub: you have to tell me what you plan to use the money for, even if it's a lie.

First recipient: a homeless man on 24th Street, outside the bakery where Matt and I bought cupcakes (him: yellow, me: pink).

"What'll you use the money for?" I asked, "I'll give it to you either way."

"Rent!" he insisted. "I'm not a drinker! Oh, no, sir! It'll all go to rent."