Find an ordinary object in your pocket and tell its epic tale.
I don't even bother listening to the bum's story. My hand goes into my pocket automatically for the change in there.I shake it out, and find The Paperclip.
It's been a long time since its glory days at NASA, when during the 12th Apollo mission it bridged a navigation circuit that could have splattered the capsule across Utah.
After two decades jumping from binder to binder, it was unbent to reset a critical communications computer for the shuttle program.
A hero among office supplies.
I hand the bum the change, unbend the paperclip, and pick my teeth with it.
