I've always felt that you should give without telling, and be kind without expecting anything in return. I am reluctant to even write this entry because I don't want this to seem like I'm stroking my ego, or giving myself a pat on the back. But... I have decided to write this down in hope to inspire someone out there, whoever it is that actually reads the random thoughts I write, to go out and do what they feel is important in their heart. We live in a time where we are all so connected, yet disconnected at the same time. I hope that somewhere in my story I will remind you to do something that you feel is right.
Wednesday started off like a normal day. I took the kids to school, went to workout at Fit 36, then headed off the get some Jiu Jitsu practice with Randy. I then got cleaned up and headed to work.
I was running a little late and decided to just grab a pizza at Little Caesars Pizza on the way to work. The pizza is only 5 dollars, so it's something I grab when I'm in a hurry and running late. As I walked up to Little Caesars I noticed a man sitting off by himself. He was a homeless man, and he was just sitting there with his belongings and eating a pizza. I saw a few people walk by him, and they were avoiding eye contact with the man. He didn't bother any of them, didn't ask for money, and he didn't ask for help. He just sat there, eating his pizza and minding his own business.
The location I was at is a nicer side of town. An area where you don't see homeless people. While I was getting my pizza, something told me that I needed to do something for this guy. I asked the lady working behind the counter at Little Caesars if they sold gift cards. She said that they did, so I told her that I would like a $30.00 gift card.
I got my pizza, and my gift card , and walked out of Little Caesars. I saw the homeless man still sitting there, and I walked over to him. He noticed me walking up to him and I said "Hello, I have something for you. I see you like pizza, so I figured that you could put this to good use." He saw that it was a gift card and I told him it had $30.00 on it and I wanted him to have it.
What he said to me left me heartbroken. He told me, "$30.00... that's too much."
This was not the response I was expecting to hear. I looked at him and said, "No it's not... it should be more." Then I walked over to my car, got in, and drove to work. The whole time I was driving I kept thinking how I wish that I had the time to sit down and talk to this guy. I felt like I should have asked him if he needed anything. I wished that I wasn't in a rush.
I got to work and went about my normal day. Today I was working with Andrea. We haven't hung out in a long time, and I always like working with Andrea. She's one of those people that I can joke around with, and have very meaningful conversations with as well.
As we were ending our shift and were closing up the store I shared my story about the guy I had my encounter with earlier to Andrea. I told her how heavy it was to hear him say that I gave him too much.
Andrea then said something that blew me away. She told me, "It was probably hard for that guy to take it from you because he wasn't asking for anything. You felt like he needed help and you did something about it. You knew that he needed help from the way he looked and the position he was in. If anyone saw you walking down the road they wouldn't think anything of it, but if they see this man they can automatically tell that he needs help. The guy you helped probably realized that you could tell that he needed help just by looking at him. That's gotta be a pretty heavy emotional thing to deal with." This was a point of view that I never thought of.
A lot of time we see people in distress and we walk right by, look the other way, hope that someone else will step in, or just ignore them.
Sometimes when we see a homeless person we automatically have an idea in our head about what their story might be. We have no clue as to what got them to this point in their life. Our luck can change at the drop of a hat. We never imagine that the person we walk by could be us... but maybe we should. I know that it is personally hard for me to swallow my pride and ask for help, and if it wasn't for my parents I don't know where I would be in my life when things were going bad. I could have at one point of my life been that guy that needed help sitting there...
until next time...
BE KIND TO EACH OTHER!!!!
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