After writing the last post, it made me start to think about about the man we saw outside of Target last weekend when my mom and I went Christmas shopping. It was cold and raining. He was standing out in the rain with no umbrella and a jacket, not a coat. He held a sign that stated that he had been laid off from work, had a wife and two kids, and they had been evicted from their home. He was selling Hersey's chocolate bars for whatever people would pay.
I learned from working downtown, that you can't always believe those signs or the people that are holding them. It makes me sad that we live in a world where people would take money from other people based on a lie. However, this man seemed different. First of all, he had to be absolutely freezing. It's almost wintertime, the temperature had drastically drop and it was raining.
I was driving and couldn't reach my purse, but my mom said that she had some cash to give him. She rolled down her window and handed him a $5 bill. She told him that he could keep his candy to sell to someone else. Never have I witnessed such profound gratitude. He thanked her over and over and said that he hoped that it came back to her a 1,000 times. He could not have been more appreciative.
My mom and I both got teary-eyed as we drove away. When I tried to tell Aaron the story later that night, I started to cry. To be honest, I'm crying now. Call it the hormones, but really I've always been a sucker for warm heart filled gestures and making/seeing people happy. That $5 may as well have been $1,000 by the way he reacted. The man was desperate enough to stand out in the freezing cold rain in a jacket with no hood and no umbrella to sell candy bars for his family.
I've prayed for him and his family to be taken care of in this holiday season and new year. I hope they are at least warm and that those kids have a winter coat, a roof, and food in their bellies. Thinking about his situation, made me ashamed of my last post. The post about wanting only necessities and having money to buy something I wouldn't ordinarily buy just because I have the money.
As you can see, my momma is a really good person. She instilled her values in me. I've been told at work and other times that I have a really kind soul, how sweet I am, and how they can tell I actually care about people. One of my coworkers said to me one day not too long ago, "Does your momma know what a good job she did with you? I want you to tell her how great she did and that I said so." I did tell her and her face lit up. It kind of made my day. It's not about monetary things or huge things, it can be a smile to someone who's having a bad day or holding the door open for someone. It doesn't take much to lift some one's spirits.
I've been told that when I smile, you can tell I really mean it. Of course, I do! Why would anyone smile at someone and not mean it? I am so not fake. Besides, I don't want that negative karma coming back at me. I completely believe that whatever energy you put out is what you are going to receive back.
I try to live my life in a way that I can be proud of and hold my head up high. In a way, that I hope my children will admire and follow after. After all, I had an excellent role model that steered me in the right direction. And for that, I am forever grateful.
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