Gifted.

One of them was a screenwriter and the other, a sketch artist/mom of three/retired member of the Air Force and National Guard. Both saw Europe when they were in their twenties. The second one lived abroad for three years. Both work full-time. One is a budding poet. Both were articulate, thoughtful, fluent in politics and international relations. Both sat to my right. Both have been homeless for the past six months. One attends Harvard. Neither suffers from mental illness. They are my mother's age; at some point in the last year, one thing led to another, and the resources that made ends meet were no longer adequate.

What do you say to someone whose resume outshines your own when you're leaving the shelter that night and they are not?

You say the same things you'd say to any other person you were trying to get to know. Who are your people? Let me tell you about my family. Thank you, but I'm already full. Tell me about your time in the military. Do you really want to know what I think of the war? Quit jazzing me about the Yankees. How's that cough? What happened to J? What's next for you? Where have you lived, whom have you loved, what have you seen, what fuels you? One will tell you you're so good to come. (You'll ask yourself why you waited so long.) The other will say that she hopes to see you again: "I enjoy getting out of my own head. Regular conversation -- not shelter talk -- that's what I don't get enough of."

Listen: get yourself out there. You have enough to give just by virtue of being who you are right now. Is this the same tired "Make a Difference" goody-goody bleeding heart rubbish that I turn off whenever Sally Struthers squeakily whines on camera about my 25 cents a day and how many children it will feed? Yes, and sadly, she's right. We can do more even by doing very little. I challenge you to put yourself in a situation in which you have something to give, and everyone in the room knows it. You'll be surprised at how addictive it is. You'll forget to berate yourself for waiting as long as you have to do something beyond yourself. You've already got something they want: you. A little bit of your time, a jab for the Yankee fans in the house, and a talk about family and politics.

You're already well-equipped. You're already gifted.