The Find

How easy it would have been for the man to just pass by the old busker without noticing it.

It was rare to see a beggar crouching against a shop window on the main street. It was lunchtime and people bustling along the pavement were having to skirt around him, being careful not to disturb his tatty old hat with its meagre collection of coins.

But the man on his lunch break had noticed it. It was nothing short of a miracle. How long had it been? Ten, no, fifteen years at least. He just couldn’t believe his luck, but now more than ever, he needed to use all of his skills as a commodities trader to clinch the deal. First he would think carefully about his approach. He crossed the street and double back to take up a position opposite. He had to be sure that the beggar didn’t suddenly move on and get lost in the crowd.

Occasionally the old man would give a short burst on a mouthorgan, more for getting attention than entertainment. From time to time, passers-by would drop the odd piece of change into the upturned bucket hat. It was green with an extra wide brim, just right for catching donations. He seemed to be doing quite well, and unbeknown to the professional man, the wily old beggar was aware that he was being watched.

After spending a few minutes working on his strategy, the man in the suit and tie crossed the street and tossed several gold coins into the hat. The beggar looked up, knowing that something was coming.

“I’ve decided to be straight with you” he said. “I’d like to buy your hat”.

“And why would you want to do that?” came the reply.

The man was becoming conscious that he was getting in the way of the foot traffic. He moved alongside the beggar and squatted down. Now eye-to-eye, he said “The fact is, a good fifteen or more years ago my wife put this hat into the charity bag by mistake, and I would really like to buy it back.”

He pulled out his wallet and checked the contents. “We could settle this for ten dollars.” The old man just stared at him. “OK. Fifty. I’ll give you fifty for it.”

The old man looked down at the hat, shaking his head. “My son bought me this hat. He died last year.”

Another check of the wallet and he said “OK. A hundred.”

The old man looked up and said “OK.” With that he emptied out the coins, stuffed them into his pocket, handed up the hat, took the notes, crumpled them and wedged them down with the coins. The other was gazing at the old hat with reverance and hardly noticed the old guy gather up his few belongings and quickly disappear into the crowd.

He folded the hat carefully and returned to the office. He still couldn’t believe his good fortune and could hardly wait to get home and tell his wife about it. She would be amazed.

As he entered the house he called out, saying he had some exciting news. His wife appeared wiping her hands on dish towel. “What is it? I’m in the middle of getting tea.”

He held the hat up with a wide grid. “Look what I’ve got.”

“I see. What have you got?”

“My hat! Can you believe it? I bought it off this old fella in town. My old hat!”

She gave him a mocking smile and rolled her eyes. “Your old hat?”

“Yes.”

“No it isn’t.”

“Yes it is, look.” He put it on and pointed to it. “See. My old hat!”

She shook her head. “I’m telling you, that isn’t your old hat.”

“Why do you keep saying that?”

“Because that’s green, that’s why.”

“Well, green, yes. What about it?”

“Yours was blue.”

“Blue?”

“Yes, blue. I should know, I bought it for you. I never did like it but you insisted, so I bought it for you… and it was blue!” She went back into the kitchen, mumbling and shaking her head. She called out “What did you pay for it?”

He swallowed hard. “Five dollars.”

“Hah!” she cried. “You were had!”

He thought about blue and green, then turned red…