Today, we passed a gentleman on the road. He held a sign that said, ‘hungry’. It was 36 degrees outside. I talked my husband into taking the change from our car, we went to McDonald’s and bought a double cheeseburger and fries.
I felt like beyond being grateful and noticing goodness each day, I should also try to incorporate passing along goodness to others. If EVERYONE made a conscious choice to do one small thing each day, can you imagine how we could change the world? So, for today… this positivity went towards feeding another who was hungry.
Read on… it wasn’t that simple.
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The catch:
Upon returning to this gentleman’s spot, he was no longer there. This was a matter of ten minutes. However, in his spot, oddly enough, was an equally needy gentleman, or at least according to his sign. The second gentleman got the burger and fries.
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The confusion:
We felt it especially important to show our children how you should share with others less fortunate. We discussed empathy and struggle with them.
My five year old in the backseat asked where this man lived. We told her he was probably homeless and what that meant. She responded with ‘if you want to be rich, you must work hard’. We were glad she knew this. We explained that we also believe this is true. We also explained that for some, it isn’t that easy and that some people are at a disadvantage, and it doesn’t hurt to help others even if it were the case that he didn’t want to work hard.
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The reflection:
Upon receipt of the burger, this gentleman, if I’m being honest, didn’t seem as appreciative as I would have thought, well, considering he was holding a sign begging for food and all. And, the car ahead of us did give him cash. At first, it kind of felt a little less good, this giving of lunch, than I’d anticipated it would. I wondered if we’d been taken advantage of.
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Who’d have thought so many thoughts and stages and emotions would have gone into giving a guy a burger? I certainly didn’t.
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The conclusion:
Regardless of whether or not this man had a home or not, regardless of whether or not he had (probably) more money in his pockets than we had in our car, regardless of whether or not he had a job, wanted a job, or would work at a job if given the opportunity, the fact remains…. it was 36 degrees outside. He was stripped of his dignity, standing on an interstate off ramp, holding a cardboard sign begging others.
He was at a disadvantage. No question.
It cost us $2.18 and hopefully taught our children a lesson in charity and in empathy. It obviously taught us more than we bargained for.
~K
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