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June 06, 2005
Homelessness part 2
Who you are has a lot to do with how you are brought up. Once, while still young and growing up in sunny California, my parents, sisters and I went to a mall. As we walked towards the mall, a homeless man approached us and asked for some money. Before anyone could say anything, a security guard shoo'd him away. This was probably the first encounter of a homeless person for my little sisters and I. Before he left our sight, he grabbed an abandoned fountain drink on the side of the street. Needless to say, my sisters and I did NOT know what was going on! It was just some huge, weird encounter for us. Who knows how long we were at the mall, but when we left, my dad kept circling the car around the block, the allys, the mall. So my mom is like, "what are you doing" and kids are like "dad lets go home!" but he stops when he finally sees what he'd been looking for. In literally, an ally, there was the same homeless guy, and my dad got out of the car and walked towards him. We had no idea what my dad was gonna do, apparently, the homeless man didn't either, in fact, he looked like he was scared to death. Looking at the scared old man made us (the kids) scared! But there goes my dad, he gives the man a little cash and some McDonald's. Where did the food come from? I guess we got McDonald's before hitting the mall! I have really poor memory, but there are a few things worthy of holding onto I will never forget, such as this. It really opened my pea sized mind. My dad didn't have to teach us to be good to people who are less fortunate, he showed us!
I may as well tell you a story about a good friend who just loves "bums." Yup, he thinks they are the coolest thing ever, all the while not romanticizing the situation. A "bum" named JaJa (I might be wrong on the name here) asked him for a couple bucks (maybe) and my friend said, "how bout I buy you lunch instead." So they had lunch at McDonald's (what's up with Mcdonald's huh?) together and he just thought it was the coolest thing.
I thought that was pretty cool myself.
Posted by thao0226 at June 6, 2005 01:14 PM | Reflections
Comments
That IS cool...your dad is obviously a compassionate man that sees beyond someone's circumstances. That's really unusual, and its clear where you get your views from. :)
Posted by: Jen at June 6, 2005 01:42 PM
that IS really cool, and it goes a long way with the quote, "actions speak louder than words."
Posted by: Dawn at June 6, 2005 02:47 PM
I saw a man buy some food for a homeless man on my way to class today. It's great to see someone helping out another in need.
Posted by: Kyle Larson at June 6, 2005 03:15 PM
those are both great stories. despite what my blog says, people can be pretty awesome.
Posted by: Sarah at June 6, 2005 05:03 PM