The Man on the Corner
For months I had watched him hold up his sign at the street corner "hungry, broke, anything will help". I admit I was usually annoyed to see him, thinking to myself "why don't you just get a job". Like most, I consider myself philanthropic, I mean it does feel good to help others, but these street beggars tend to get under my skin. One day I saw him packing up and walking away. I decided to find me a spot and watch from a distance exactly where he went. As he approached a parking lot, I noticed him looking around, as if his chauffeur should be arriving momentarily. Then the ah ha moment happened, a nice blue sedan pulled up and he got in. I knew it, he wasn't broke or hungry, he was tugging at the heartstrings of people, taking advantage of their goodness, while he himself was beating the system.
One day a couple weeks later, I once again witnessed him packing up and walking away. This time my blood pressure sky high I decided to approach him. I gained my composure, as not to come across angry. I stepped out of my car and gestured for him to come here. To my surprise he walked over and said "what can I do for you sir". I told him that I had watched him on that corner for months, yet refused to give him anything, but I would gladly buy him dinner if we could talk about the why you do what you do. Thinking I would make him mad, which would be my sedge way into a much harsher conversation, he looked me in the eye and said "sir when would you like to do this". Well, to say I was taken back would be an understatement, maybe he was hungry, and I had misread the whole thing. Beings he called my bluff, I said now is fine with me. He asked if I could wait a couple minutes so he could tell his sister he had a ride. Naturally I obliged.
We went to a local fast food place, once we got our meal I got the discussion going. I asked him how long he had been a beggar on the street. His reply stunned me. He said "sir, who said I was a beggar"? I said, "well your sign kinda says it all doesn't it"? I mean it does say "hungry, broke, anything will help". As he looked me in the eyes, I could feel the pain in his heart and tears beginning to flow down his face. He said "sir if you don't mind, let me share with you why I do what I do."
Several years ago, he said, I sold my company for a large sum of money. I truly wanted to give back to the community that helped make me a success. What I found was people and organizations with little to no desire to make a difference. Everyone looked at the people or groups they were trying to help as tools to raise more money. Few, if any, saw the person, they only saw the opportunity. As an experiment one day I decided to stand on a street corner with a sign and basically beg for money. What I found first hand was shocking. The majority of people did not have the decency to make eye contact with me, because I was beneath who they thought they were. I was a leach to society, a possum in the road, a person without a soul. I was less than human to most, I was a disposable nuisance. There were some that screamed obscenities at me and others with genuine hearts that would offer me food and money. I stood there a few hours a day for about a week. Then I decided that I wanted to make a difference in the people I encountered.
At that point I was totally confused. I said to him, "so you are not homeless, hungry or broke"? He replied "no sir I am not, but you are". I was taken aback and said "how can you make such a statement". He continued his humble angelic story.
He created his sign, he said, to say "hungry, broke, anything will help", not as a description of himself but a depiction of those of whom passed by. He said that his experience had led him to believe that more people than not are hungry, to the point of starving, for love and compassion. We live in such a social instant world that feelings are a thing of the past. What feelings people do express are usually negative and cold. He said that hundreds of people would drive by glancing over but fearing to make eye contact. Not because they hated me but because they hated who they had become. They were broken in spirit, lost souls seeking shelter, yet no place to turn. Seeing me, sparked at least, the hint of an emotion. It may have been bitterness because I was standing there or true compassion because I may be in need. Their feelings was an extension of whom they were at that moment. The last line I wrote was "anything will help". What I meant by that is simply this, anything your heart feels in seeing me at least stirs up a feeling that all people are human. We are not roadkill that can be driven over, around or squashed further. How people viewed me was an existential look inside the depths of their own soul. People view others as they view themselves. Externally some try to put on the facade that they are above reproach but deep down they know without a shadow of a doubt that they truly are hungry and broke.
To say I was in shock with this conversation would be a play on words that would do it no justice. I was in awe at the lengths this amazing person would go through to reach others. It was the most unorthodox approach I had ever seen. I had to ask the obvious, "how do you know if your technique to reaching people is working." He said sir "with all due respect, you and I are sitting here".
He went on to share with me this, "if God only placed one person in my path that felt the need to change their life, then my efforts are worth more than any amount of money. You sir drove by me for weeks on end until one day you were so fed up with life that you decided to lash out at a lowly person like me. You were hungry sir, you were broke, anything would help you at that moment, and here we are. As you were going to direct your anger towards me for being a lazy street begging peasant, in turn I have helped you expose your own deep seated emotions towards humanity. You see sir, God didn't bring you this far just to bring you this far, the torch has been lit and passed on to you. It is incumbent upon you now to be the bearer and light the path so others can follow. Your life matters so much more than you ever imagined, as is witnessed by the fact that you are sitting here dinning with a dirty peasant others view as beneath them. You have been given the opportunity to once again believe in who you are, to dream again, to live again. All because you decided to approach a man you felt was working the sytem that infuriated you. God truly does work in mysterious ways.
As we stood to leave I offered to give him a ride home, he agreed and the conversation ensued for the next few minutes. When we arrived at his rather nice modest home, I thanked him for taking the time to meet with me. As he stepped out I said, please if I may, I need to ask you one more question, what do you do with the money people do give you? He said, I give it to people like you that are hungry and broke, in the hopes you will feed others so that you too may be fed. With that he handed my an envelop of one dollars bills and he walked away.
God bless
Dale
PS
also considering reading this blog I wrote many years ago
http://dalechildress.blogspot.com/2011/08/story-of-street-beggar.html
One day a couple weeks later, I once again witnessed him packing up and walking away. This time my blood pressure sky high I decided to approach him. I gained my composure, as not to come across angry. I stepped out of my car and gestured for him to come here. To my surprise he walked over and said "what can I do for you sir". I told him that I had watched him on that corner for months, yet refused to give him anything, but I would gladly buy him dinner if we could talk about the why you do what you do. Thinking I would make him mad, which would be my sedge way into a much harsher conversation, he looked me in the eye and said "sir when would you like to do this". Well, to say I was taken back would be an understatement, maybe he was hungry, and I had misread the whole thing. Beings he called my bluff, I said now is fine with me. He asked if I could wait a couple minutes so he could tell his sister he had a ride. Naturally I obliged.
We went to a local fast food place, once we got our meal I got the discussion going. I asked him how long he had been a beggar on the street. His reply stunned me. He said "sir, who said I was a beggar"? I said, "well your sign kinda says it all doesn't it"? I mean it does say "hungry, broke, anything will help". As he looked me in the eyes, I could feel the pain in his heart and tears beginning to flow down his face. He said "sir if you don't mind, let me share with you why I do what I do."
Several years ago, he said, I sold my company for a large sum of money. I truly wanted to give back to the community that helped make me a success. What I found was people and organizations with little to no desire to make a difference. Everyone looked at the people or groups they were trying to help as tools to raise more money. Few, if any, saw the person, they only saw the opportunity. As an experiment one day I decided to stand on a street corner with a sign and basically beg for money. What I found first hand was shocking. The majority of people did not have the decency to make eye contact with me, because I was beneath who they thought they were. I was a leach to society, a possum in the road, a person without a soul. I was less than human to most, I was a disposable nuisance. There were some that screamed obscenities at me and others with genuine hearts that would offer me food and money. I stood there a few hours a day for about a week. Then I decided that I wanted to make a difference in the people I encountered.
At that point I was totally confused. I said to him, "so you are not homeless, hungry or broke"? He replied "no sir I am not, but you are". I was taken aback and said "how can you make such a statement". He continued his humble angelic story.
He created his sign, he said, to say "hungry, broke, anything will help", not as a description of himself but a depiction of those of whom passed by. He said that his experience had led him to believe that more people than not are hungry, to the point of starving, for love and compassion. We live in such a social instant world that feelings are a thing of the past. What feelings people do express are usually negative and cold. He said that hundreds of people would drive by glancing over but fearing to make eye contact. Not because they hated me but because they hated who they had become. They were broken in spirit, lost souls seeking shelter, yet no place to turn. Seeing me, sparked at least, the hint of an emotion. It may have been bitterness because I was standing there or true compassion because I may be in need. Their feelings was an extension of whom they were at that moment. The last line I wrote was "anything will help". What I meant by that is simply this, anything your heart feels in seeing me at least stirs up a feeling that all people are human. We are not roadkill that can be driven over, around or squashed further. How people viewed me was an existential look inside the depths of their own soul. People view others as they view themselves. Externally some try to put on the facade that they are above reproach but deep down they know without a shadow of a doubt that they truly are hungry and broke.
To say I was in shock with this conversation would be a play on words that would do it no justice. I was in awe at the lengths this amazing person would go through to reach others. It was the most unorthodox approach I had ever seen. I had to ask the obvious, "how do you know if your technique to reaching people is working." He said sir "with all due respect, you and I are sitting here".
He went on to share with me this, "if God only placed one person in my path that felt the need to change their life, then my efforts are worth more than any amount of money. You sir drove by me for weeks on end until one day you were so fed up with life that you decided to lash out at a lowly person like me. You were hungry sir, you were broke, anything would help you at that moment, and here we are. As you were going to direct your anger towards me for being a lazy street begging peasant, in turn I have helped you expose your own deep seated emotions towards humanity. You see sir, God didn't bring you this far just to bring you this far, the torch has been lit and passed on to you. It is incumbent upon you now to be the bearer and light the path so others can follow. Your life matters so much more than you ever imagined, as is witnessed by the fact that you are sitting here dinning with a dirty peasant others view as beneath them. You have been given the opportunity to once again believe in who you are, to dream again, to live again. All because you decided to approach a man you felt was working the sytem that infuriated you. God truly does work in mysterious ways.
As we stood to leave I offered to give him a ride home, he agreed and the conversation ensued for the next few minutes. When we arrived at his rather nice modest home, I thanked him for taking the time to meet with me. As he stepped out I said, please if I may, I need to ask you one more question, what do you do with the money people do give you? He said, I give it to people like you that are hungry and broke, in the hopes you will feed others so that you too may be fed. With that he handed my an envelop of one dollars bills and he walked away.
God bless
Dale
PS
also considering reading this blog I wrote many years ago
http://dalechildress.blogspot.com/2011/08/story-of-street-beggar.html
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