Thank You, M’am Summary

A large, unnamed woman is lugging her heavy purse late at night when a dirty and disheveled young boy runs up behind her and attempts to steal her bag. He fails when the purse’s strap snaps, sending the boy toppling onto the sidewalk. The woman yanks the frail, frightened boy up by his shirt and scolds him. Though the boy wants nothing more than to run away, the woman insists on dragging him home with her to wash his face and feed him some supper. While explaining her decision, she declares that he will never forget his evening with Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones.

The boy continues to struggle but Mrs. Jones is firm in her grip as they enter her house, which he realizes must be a boarding house with other tenants. She asks his name—Roger—before finally letting go of him and directing him to wash his face in the sink. For a moment, the now free Roger looks towards the door, before looking back at Mrs. Jones and then following her instruction. He asks if she will take him to jail, which she denies and tosses him a clean towel.

Mrs. Jones proposes that hunger must have driven Roger’s attempted theft, but Roger denies this; he simply had his heart set on a pair of blue suede shoes. Instead of condemning this desire, Mrs. Jones surprised Roger by admitting she, too, wanted things she couldn’t have when she was young and did things of which she is ashamed.

Mrs. Jones proceeds to make the promised dinner. Roger, attempting to be helpful, asks if she needs him to pick up anything at the store, though she does not. They then share a simple but hearty meal, during which Mrs. Jones tells Roger about her late-night work at a hotel beauty shop and notably avoids grilling him about his family or home. After both have eaten their fill, their impromptu evening ends abruptly. Mrs. Jones surprises Roger with ten dollars for his wished-for shoes and sends him out in the night. Though he wishes to say “thank you,” Roger cannot manage to even make a sound before Mrs. Jones closes her door.