Driving away from Maggiano's, we saw that parking lot security and the police had approached the woman that had plead to me for help. Were they responding to a complaint from a restaurant employee? Had another patron called security? I'll never know.
The next morning, at breakfast, we were sharing the story with two of our other coworkers who had been dining with us the previous evening. Apparently, the same lady had approached them in the parking lot. They told her they were sorry and got in their car. She got angry with them and stood directly in front of their car and flipped them off.
Your comments on the original Human Turd post have been very enlightening, and I've been thinking about them extensively. Many of you have arrived at the same conclusion that I came to so long ago: It isn't my place to decide anything about the person asking for help. I have no understanding of what it could be like, what someone has to go through, to become homeless and without any other recourse than asking for help from people on the street. Are there scammers? Sure. Have I been scammed before? Certainly. But have I helped someone genuinely in need? Yes, I have. Not that night in front of Maggiano's, but that has served me as a strong reminder that people all over the place need help all of the time, and that I need to be prepared, at least mentally, to help out in some small, respectful way.
This morning I went to the market to pick up a few things. On my way back out to the car, I noticed a clearly homeless woman sitting under a tree in the middle of the parking lot, rummaging through her things. I put my groceries in my car, grabbed a box of Quaker Oatmeal Squares, and took it to her.
"Would you like this?"
She studied the box closely. Without making eye contact, she asked, "What is it?"
"Cereal. It's really good."
"Uh, okay." She took the box with her weathered hand and set it beside her other belongings. Then she continued rummaging.
And then I told her something that I never say. "God bless you."
.
33 comments:
Wow.
I'm glad you found someone to help so you could stop feeling bad about the Maggiano's thing. Does this mean we don't get to tease you any more?
In this day and age, it is very difficult to know who is actually in need. I tend to hope they all are, and that my assistance is somehow going to help them. I never give money, I always offer food or work.
Aside from that, if I offer food or work and they give me a freak out session, I know they are not really in need. I simply start speaking to myself as if there were voices.....
I say things out loud like:
"Calm down now Predo. They don't know you are in there and could hurt them. Stop saying that. Go away! How many times do I have to tell you, when I have control of the Body, you must remain quiet!......You have just lost one hour of your time...."
...goosebumps...
(which I recently heard called "truthbumps."
If things don't work our between you and Giancarlo (pshaw, right), can I please have a shot with you? :)
God bless you too, Jason!
There's a homeless man who walks 45 minutes each way every day Monday through Friday to the library. Why? He likes to watch our live stream during the noon show.
He's a reminder to me every day that no matter where you come from, where you've been, we're all just people. People in this great big world living together.
Check our our live stream some day. I give web updates during the commercial break and put my own SarahJClark spin on entertaining our web watchers! ;)
http://www.fox4kc.com/news/livestreaming
Hope to see you there sometime. If you tune in, be sure to say hi in the chat. I'll be happy to chat back!
PS -- our web live stream is up in the morning too! Tell your friends! Tell everyone!
I mean, who doesn't want a little bit of Missouri entertainment from inside a television newsroom? ;)
Monday - Friday 7:30 to 9 a.m. and Noon - 1 p.m. CENTRAL STANDARD TIME!
HOLLA!!!!!
Great story, great enlightenment.
This is why I love you. Really. You are such a wonderful person.....We have all been scammed. But hopefully we have helped more than not.
Bless you....Hugs, Suz
awesome story Jason! both parts.
A week ago a friend and I took a road trip and stopped at a restaurant to eat. There was a homeless woman in front of the restaurant who may or may not had some mental issues who started speaking to us even before we got out of the car. I knew she would be there when we left the restaurant. My friend has a pretty nice car and the woman kept saying things like "You are so rich, I am homeless". We gave her a little money. My friend with the nice car is out of work. Her family is struggling. My husband has been laid off since the first of the year. To this woman we looked "rich" and compared to her we are "rich". Her image has haunted since. I have been counting my blessings.
Great story! And good job taking the opportunity to redeem yourself. Not that I thought you did anything wrong before. You never struck me as being judgmental.
Great post!
I enjoy giving so much more when I can do it because I want to or because I feel like it's something I should be doing. I think I probably give more than when somebody hits me up.
Great post, Jason. You are a good man.
If you ever jump Giancarlos' ship for Jamie, can I have dibs on Giancarlo?
Wow, you've set a great example for all of us, Jason. That woman didn't even thank you but you did something from the kindness of your heart to help another human being. And it's so much better to be able to do what you did, rather than just put a donated can of soup in a box somewhere every once in a while. You saw someone in need and gave to her selflessly. That is beautiful to me. {{{{{{{{{{Jason}}}}}}}}
Justine :o )
Awww. You're so sweet.
You'll always be my hero!
I totally flippin' lurve you. TOTALLY.
Is it lurve or lerve? I never know.
Either way, I do. Totally.
Good Lord, I just read Jamie's comment. Jamie once said the same thing in a comment on one of my blog posts. You know, if things didn't work out in my marriage she wanted a shot. But I don't know if she meant with katydidnot or Tom.
...
I'll leave now.
It can be hard to deal with a situation when you're caught off guard. I don't think you should feel like you have to redeem yourself, we've all been a situation like that at some point.
Aw, Jason. Love this about you.
That was good of you. It's hard to know what one can do to help, but I often want to help too. Sigh. I think I need to volunteer more at places who know more about this then I do. Thanks for making me think about it....
I think you did a great thing! And because of the kind of person you are, I know it won't be your last! Although, I do agree with Leanne that you were caught off guard the other night, and you shouldn't feel like you have to redeem yourself for being human and not having the perfect response at the ready.
Kelly
Aw, Jason, what a great story.
God Bless you and your family, always.
That was very sweet of you. I still find myself saying the same thing sometimes, even though I'm not sure which/who's God I am talking about... And you are totally not a turd!
This is hard... the other day I driving and this woman was standing at the stop light with a "help I'm homeless" sign. I watched as others dismissed her. As I approached in my fancy car, I felt horrible. I don't know...it just got to me. Why her and not me? What happened in her life that lead to begging at stop lights? Of course, I'll never know. But I gave her bottle water and a few bucks. She said "God Bless you" to me. Even if it was a scam, I don't really care...if you're desperate enough to beg a stop lights...you need something. And when you think about it...we're all human...
I don't say this very often, either, but... God bless you, Jason.
I believe in pay-it-forward kindness. I think that we make ripples around ourselves of either positive or negative things, and we are constantly choosing one or the other. We pass those ripples out to others, who make their own.
What we need isn't always what we want. Sometimes, a well-placed comment may mean more to a homeless person than all of the spare change in the world.
I am still figuring out what it means to be kind to street people. And different kinds of street people, too.
The schizophrenic guy in the middle of the road, walking into traffic, hollering: How to help him?
The guy with whiskey on his breath, changing and changing his story to get more money to get more whiskey: How to help him?
I'm thinking about genuine help. I don't have answers, but I'll keep working.
I can see that you've been working.
Thank you for these posts.
Damn, Cheri's on to me. I want her. And I want you. That's okay right? :)
That was a good thing you did, Jason. You showed love and compassion to another human... and isn't that what it's all about?
I believe that when I'm standing in front of God giving an accounting of my life, he's not going to want to know what sort of house I lived in, or how much money I made, but how much I loved others and how kind I was.
And it's things like what you did to this woman which show compassion, love... and that's a Beautiful Thing.
:)
You are a great guy Jason! Great story.. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So my blog is blingy??? LOL
You did a good thing, Jason. Your earlier post really made me think. I actually had an acquaintence once, a long time ago,who became homeless. He was an alcoholic, and I met him while he was sober and working, but after a couple months he started drinking again, lost his job and his apartment and I would sometimes see him on the street. I gave him money sometimes, but I also felt a strong urge to distance myself from him. I think I was right to protect myself, but it always made me feel guilty.
Be careful, though, when giving people food and things; be sure what you give them is safe and sealed and clean so they don't have to worry about being given something that will make them ill - even if YOU would never do that, someone might.
You did good, Jason.
Brought tears to my eyes.
You're a keeper!
I haven't read the other story yet, and I am going to right now, but this story, well, I thought it was beautiful. Too beautiful for words. I think God will bless you for your act of kindness. God blessed my by allowing me to read this story today.
It's such a small thing to do but what an impact! Sounded like she wasn't keen on Oatmeal squares though!
Post a Comment