He probably says that to all the ladies

There's a bottle picker in my work neighbourhood who works hard all morning pushing his cart from downtown and all around the neighbourhood. He spends the afternoons parked on a bench by an Indian restaurant and watches the world go by. When he first appeared in my work neighbourhood two years ago he was a ghastly sight and had about as much appeal as the salt vampire from Star Trek. Someone had seriously (and quite literally) taken the ugly stick to him. Somewhere along the way he managed to heal and is far more pleasing to look at, even if there are no upper teeth when he smiles.

He used to ask me for money, but he stopped after a while. He almost had me digging in my pocket once when he tacked "friend" onto the end of his request. I'm not sure if he recognizes me from day to day actually, but the only thing he gets from me is a big smile.

"Hey gorgeous", "Hey beautiful," he tries on me, even if I'm wearing my old jeans and a plaid shirt. "How is it that you get more beautiful every day?" He must have been quite the ladies man back in the day.

Today I was hardly gorgeous, but he didn't miss a beat. "You're so beautiful, you're giving me sunburn!" he called out to me. Maybe I gotta start stashing pop cans in my purse.