This morning, around 1:00AM, I was getting gas on gayley, and a homeless guy approached me seeking for some change. I only had a twenty, so I told him I would go to the store, buy something, and give him a dollar or two. While I was walking towards it, I thought why don’t I just also buy something for him. He told me there isn’t something in that store he needs, but he needs to buy hot soup for him and his wife at Ralphs. I offered to drive him to Ralph and buy soup with him instead.
So on the car we had a good chat. We talked a bit about the government, people, annoying paperworks, geeks and the Geek Squad. Tony is homeless for awhile because he didn’t get the paperwork in, and so the government canceled his welfare until next month. Long time ago he used to be a factory worker in a chemical factory, and he accidentally got hurt, and since then had no ability to do good work. I asked him if he had hobbies if he was able to have any, and he said, “not really, maybe crossword puzzles.”
When we got to Ralphs, since it was so late, there were no hot soup. I then offered to buy him a whole roasted chicken. He was ultra-grateful and thanked me continuously. I told him the truth, that it was simply from the mercy of the Lord. I then offered to have him and his wife drop by my place some time so I can make some food to eat together. He liked the idea, but he said he can’t make a decision for both him and his wife, hence he cannot say yes to it. I told him I respect his care for his wife’s opinion.
Afterwards, he thanked me and told me he didn’t want to trouble me anymore. I told him to take a good rest because it is late at night, and make sure he doesn’t rest hungrily. He said that whenever I see him around, stop by because he wants to somehow pay me back if he could. I told him not to worry about it.
Anyway, I’m telling this not because I want to let people know that behind the craziness, I’m a pretty nice guy, but just to express that there are too little events like these that occur in society. I figured that $8 to me is worth A LOT less than $8 to this guy, and I thought it was an overall gain in the transaction. I know a lot of these homeless people choose to be like that, and buy drugs with new money, but there are poor fellas who just ended in a bad place due to bad luck. I am not asking people to sacrifice that extra boba, starbucks, or jamba juice money to the homeless people, but simply to be kind and express care. I think talking to them like a real person and expressing care is more valuable to these people than a couple quarters.
