I probably give free or discounted rides...

I probably give free or discounted rides as often as I engage in annoyed bitchery, believe it or not. This girl is huddled at the bus stop at 39th and Division, long after the last bus has come and gone. I pull over and tell her this, in case she doesn't realize. She starts to cry. "I know, I just don't know what else to do but sit here." She is homeless, tired, hungry and dirty. However, she has an offer from someone to stay with them, at 47th and Flanders; she just needs to get there.

A cop watches our exchange intently, which sort of pisses me off. Helping this girl out is more in his bailiwick, after all. But I tell her to get in, rolling the windows down due to her reek. I explain to her that I'm marked into the computer, and if it gives me an order I may have to drop her off, but we can certainly get her closer.

This is actually a small white lie, to lessen her expressed embarrassment. Her sense of shame is palpable; I come to find that she followed a guy who encouraged her to come to Portland and be with him, only to bail on her, leaving her humiliated and homeless. Jesus, people really do suck sometimes. I tell her that he's the one who should be ashamed of himself.

We get to her destination; she's worrying about waking them up. I say I imagine they'll understand. I hope I was right.