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One night, a young man was walking home from work, when a haggard-looking man suddenly stepped out from an alley in front of him. The young man tensed, preparing to defend himself, but the person just stood there. Looking him over, the young man concluded that he was nothing but a hippie. In fact, he looked like some kind of caracature with his long, barely washed hair and beard, and his dirty leather sandals. He held a sandwich board reading, "THE END IS NIGH."
"Do you want something?" the young man asked the hippie.
"The world's ending," the hippie said. "I need your help."
Ignoring him, the young man walked around the hippie to continue on his way.
High as a kite, he thought to himself.
The hippie followed him and grabbed his sleeve.
"Please, I need your help!" said the hippie.
"Look, dude, I'm really not interested in what you're selling," he said, shaking the hippie off. He turned away and continued his journey home.
The hippie watched as the young man disappeared into the night, then solemnly returned to his alleyway. He wasn't all disappointed; this reaction was not uncommon.
"Another skeptic..." the hippie said to himself. He sat down on the pavement and took off his fingerless gloves and sandals, rubbing the sore, gaping holes in his hands and feet.