Thursday, November 06, 2003

Several weeks ago, I wrote of being accosted by a man on my street late at night. He asked for money by telling the threadbare story of beggars everywhere, or a variation of it: His car was stolen and he needed bus fare.

The experience reasonably scared me because it was so late and none of my neighbors' lights were on. In my column, I ultimately chided beggars for being so unoriginal as to share the same story and urged them to be more creative so that the people they stop would at least get a better story for the money.

It was sarcasm that I have since regretted, thanks in part to a number of e-mails, some sympathetic, some angry. Feedback from readers is invaluable, especially if it is critical, because it can force you to think again and possibly re-examine what you wrote. It is always good to think, how else might I have written that? The normal tendency is to move on immediately to the next column idea.

Stories have been a guiding force in my life, from a childhood of devouring fiction to a career looking for people to tell me good stories. I don't accept what I know or suspect to be lies in my work, but in my life, in anyone's life, embellishments and enhancements are part of a story -- the hyperbole of bar flies, the wit and wisdom of porch sitters, the impersonal invective of crazy people who walk down the street shouting at parking meters.

People in positions of responsibility often lie or enhance their stories, so why not a man who has to ask for help? Begging is humiliating, and a man whose story doesn't dignify him may opt for a phony one that will. The flimsier the story, the more we should hear its poignance.

As much as most of us don't want to face it, many people among us are very hard up. The reasons may be similar -- a lost job, addiction problems, family rejections -- but no story is the same as another and no person is a cliche.

Sometimes, you have to remind yourself to look at the world with the eyes and mind you had before you "knew" things.

It has been 10 years since I wrote my first "Walkabout" column, a run that I am ending in order to devote full-time to looking for other people's stories. At the end of this week, I will be returning to the features department after a year and a half as a sports copy editor/paginator and columnist on the side.

To all my friends who work days, yeah, that's where I disappeared to.

To all who read the Sports section, please forgive the occasional typo. You cannot imagine how much work is done under so much pressure by so few for so many.

I will miss hearing from the people who read my column regularly, maybe especially Darth in the Everglades because he was so cryptic and my Welsh friend whose flag I fly, and Larry, whom I gave a heads up because he liked me so much.

To the people who have been compelled to write or call about my column over 10 years, write or call and tell me a story, especially if you don't mind that I would verify it.

Beggars, porch sitters and ranting looneys -- yes, I want your stories, too. But make 'em good. :-)

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