"Anyone Have $.25?"

I went to school in Madison, Wisconsin, which has to be hands down the homeless capital of the world.

(Side note: Is it just me or is that strange? I’ve grown up in the Midwest my entire life and braved my share of winter storms, but nothing and I mean NOTHING, can prepare you for the winters of Wisconsin, which seem to last unusually long. It wasn’t until I started college that I understood the purpose of sweat shirt hoods, long underwear and gloves underneath mittens, but somehow homeless individuals like to establish themselves in this town where “Flip Cup” isn’t played because its fun, it’s played because the competitive beer game keeps you warm – more or less, heavy drinking in Madison is a way of winter survival.)

Anyway, the homeless population in my college town was a staple to our campus as students always had their favorite pan handler, and looking back on things, a college town, filled with preppy, often drunk kids willing to drop crisp bills at bar time with the cajoling of their equally drunk counterparts, is a very smart place for a down-and-out individual to plant their destitute roots.

I remember my favorite Madison pan handler – we called him “Anyone Have $.25 Guy”. He was a portly gentleman, about 5 feet 5 inches, who always wore baseball-like pants with knee socks. He would roam campus holding a brief case completely covered in black duct tape and would only say one phrase, “anyone have $.25?”. I personally liked him because he was no nonsense – first, he was only asking for a modest $.25 while others would corner you for 5 bucks and second, he gave no sob story and no excuses, he just laid it out there, asking for a quarter – take it or leave it.

About four years ago, right about this time of year, some close friends and I, who all had penchant for “Anyone Have $.25 Guy”, took a Styrofoam cup and filled it up with all the spare change we could find to give to our beloved campus pan handler. We dug up about 8 bucks in change, and wanted to deliver the holiday surprise before heading home for Winter break.

As we combed the streets searching for our baseball pant wearing street dweller, we saw him through a window at Pizza Hut counting pennies on the counter as an impatient employee rolled his eyes in disgust. And then, just like the Fantastic Four, my friends and I swooped into Pizza Hut, slammed the change filled cup on the counter and said, “Merry Christmas - this meal is on us!” (Actually, if I remember correctly, we were all a little unsettled by the fact that we spent about 30 minutes stalking a homeless man, so I think we just set down the cup and ran. Either way, we made our delivery, and “Anyone Have $.25 Guy” had a hot meal that night.)

And get this... the next day, we saw him standing in his usual spot, pizza stains on his shirt, asking, “Anyone have 8 bucks of change?” Just Kidding! Wouldn’t that be funny though?

I write about this memory because a) I just think it’s funny envisioning 4 college girls searching the streets of Madison for a homeless man, and b) as the winter weather hovers over the Midwest ready to pounce with frigid temperatures and buckets of snow, it’s always nice to remember how lucky you are to have a roof over your head, and although you most likely do not want to support the lifestyle of those who make the street their home, remember that during this season it can’t hurt to give someone in need just a modest $.25.