Woman Lends Homeless Man Her AmEx Card, Actually Gets It Back

(Alan Rappa)

Here in New York City, most people have become immune to the frequent requests for spare change from panhandlers. And under no circumstances would a sane person hand over their American Express Platinum Card to a homeless person. But not only does a high-powered ad executive do just that, she also got the card back.

The 45-year-old woman had stepped outside for a smoke break with a friend at a trendy SoHo eatery when she was approached by the homeless gentleman.

“He asked me if I had any money,” she recalls. “He said he just wanted to get a Vitaminwater. I said, ‘I don’t [have cash] — I only have my credit card.’”

The man asked her if he could borrow the card and the self-described “eternal optimist” agreed.

“This guy just seemed totally trustworthy,” she says. “He was very specific about what he wanted.”

10 minutes passed without the man returning to the restaurant. “”I thought maybe, ‘OK, he did leave with it,’” she confesses. That’s when he returned, card in hand. She hugged the man and told him she knew he’d be back.

In spite of the risk, the woman says he is “definitely happy I did it… I just really believe in the good nature of people.”

How about you? Would you ever hand off your credit card to a complete stranger?

Honest panhandler returns ad gal’s AmEx [NY Post]