i live in a small town. about 25,000 people. and i'm seeing more and more people who
are down on their luck. are you seeing the same thing?
two nights ago at a self-serve gas station, pumping my gas...
a very ragged man approached me and said politely, "sir, i wonder if i could get 50
cents? that would give me enough to get a burrito and i haven't eaten in two days, sir,
and ..." i held up my hand to interrupt his small speech. "hold it" i said, "i already got
you covered. just a second." i walked around the car to put the windshield squeegee
back, pulled two ones out of my pocket, folded 'em up and went back to the guy.
"here you go, friend, take care", i says. and he teetered off for the gas station
mini-mart. i got into the car and my wife says, "i wonder what size beer he's gonna
buy?". good laugh. so i pulled out of the station and quick drove around the block,
back to where i could see the front of the mini-mart when the man came out. "guess
we'll find out" i said to her, "but if he comes out with booze, it was his call". 60 seconds
later i had my answer. here he came, taking small steps, holding a package in two
hands. he was too far away for me to tell what it was. then i saw him raise the package
up to his mouth. and as he made his way across the station parking lot, i could see him
taking hungry bites. a smile came across my face. i pulled out from the curb, rolled
down my window and kind of shouted over to the guy, "hey! did ya get your burrito?" i
must've startled him for a second, but then he recognized me. "yep!", he says back.
"beef!"
:)
mark |
