Despite the world’s continuous progress, many people still live on the streets. Some may have chosen this lifestyle, but most likely ended up on the streets due to harsh life situations.
Imagine spending your life eating out of dumpsters and sleeping on park benches. Not exactly the life most people foresaw for themselves as children. It’s a miserable existence. And yet, many people look at the homeless with disdain, if they look at them at all.
Besides all the usual pain and struggles that come with living on the streets, homeless people are also hungry for some kind words, perhaps a conversation with a caring person.
One such person is Casey Fisher.
Because it had started to rain, Casey Fisher walked inside a Dunkin’ Donuts to fetch herself a cup of coffee to warm up. She was buried in her own thoughts as she gazed out the window, when she observed a homeless guy collecting coins off the ground.
Soon after, the guy strolled inside the restaurant, wearing his old and filthy clothing. Many of the other customers recoiled at the sight of him, staring and pointing. Casey was staring too, but not in a bad way, only to search his face.
Realizing that the coins he had collected probably wouldn’t buy much, she offered to buy him a bagel and a cup of coffee, plus invited him to sit and talk with her. He proceeded to tell her much about his life and how he had ended up homeless. They talked for about an hour.
Casey’s words:
“Today I went to Dunkin’ Donuts and saw a clearly homeless guy sitting on the side of the road and picking up change. Eventually I saw him stroll into Dunkin, as he was counting his change to buy something I began to get super annoying and talked to him over and over again even when he didn’t really want to talk. Since he had maybe $1 in change I bought him a coffee and bagel and asked him to sit down with me. He told me a lot about how people are usually very mean to him because he’s homeless, how drugs turned him into the person he hated, he lost his mom to cancer, he never knew his dad and he just wants to be someone his mom would be proud of (along with another hours worth of conversation.) This lovely man’s name was Chris and Chris was one of the most honest & sincere people I’ve ever met.”
After they had this nice conversation (you can learn more of what was said in the video above), Casey had to leave. Before she left, Chris asked her to wait.
“After realizing I really need to get back to class, Chris asked me to wait so he can write something down for me. Handing me a crumpled up receipt he apologized for having shaky hand writing, smiled, and left. I opened his note and this was it. ‘I wanted to kill myself today, because of u I now do not. Thank u, beautiful person.’ “
A couple of dollars spent, and an hour of her time, literally saved this man’s life. Could we make a difference in a homeless person’s life, by simply saying hello? Maybe it wouldn’t be as dramatic as saving their life, but it might make it a little more pleasant, a little less bleak.
