A Giver

I sit at a sidewalk table and he comes by, holding a handful of pansies plucked from the landscaping. He offers one to a lady, she smiles and accepts. There is a dignity in giving rather than begging. He offers one to me and I decline. We are neighbors, really. I know pansies are not sold in bouquets at the flower shop. Other neighbors of mine grow them, although they are as faceless as a name plate on a building. What is right? What is kind? What matters, really?