Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

The first time that Gerry Adams came to the US to speak, Billy and I, and many others, traveled to NYC to hear him speak. I do not recall the exact location, but it was somewhere in midtown Manhattan. After his speech, Billy and I went outside for a smoke and a stranger approached us and asked Billy for a dollar, to which Billy responded, “You know, Bro, it’s funny you should ask. I was just about to ask you for $2 so we could pay the tunnel toll back to NJ.” Of course, the toll at the time was $7, not $2, and the toll was only levied on traffic bound into the city, not out of the city, and everyone knew that. To my amazement, the beggar gave Billy the $2 and we walked away, Billy grinning and remarking how he knew that guy was expecting him to give back the $2 and more, but he didn’t. He was funny like that: Very generous usually, but didn’t care for a con man.