Feeding the homeless with a look
Walking home last night when I decided I couldn’t survive without getting something to eat. After all, the only things I had eaten all day were a banana and a chocolate chip cookie. Did I mention it was 10 PM?
I saw a Popeyes Chicken on Yonge Street on the way home, and there was a better chance of hitting the lottery than me not going in as soon as that happened - I love fried chicken, remember? As I waited in line, I noticed a young couple who were somewhat nicely dressed with a nice-looking middle-aged man who was in some shabby clothes. I thought it was an odd group to be hanging out together on a Thursday night. Then the young woman from the couple asked the man what he wanted to eat, followed by her saying something like, “I’ve never been in here before, so I don’t even know what to recommend.”
That’s when I realized the couple was buying a homeless guy his dinner. If you ignore the fact that I was picking up food from a place where people buy food for the homeless, so will I.
The homeless guy walked up to the counter and leaned over so he could see the options. He must have spent a good 30 seconds looking at the big menu. That’s also about the time I realized that he might not be able to read the signs, which was about when the man from the young couple thought the same thing and asked, “Would you like me to pick one for you?”
The homeless guy replied with the #3, and I think it’s about 50/50 that he just made that up because he couldn’t read the sign. A few seconds later, the woman nudged his partner to ask him what he wanted to drink, to which the homeless guy replied, “Orange. It’s my favorite.”
I still remember the exact way this homeless guy said it. The look on his face when he said it. Everything. Orange pop just made him the happiest guy in Toronto.
If I become rich, I think I’ll go buy a random homeless guy food regularly, just to see that look. Maybe that’s selfish because I’m really doing it for myself instead of the homeless guy - I’m not sure. But if I do this, I’m not doing it for the crazy homeless people. Only the sincere ones who look like they’re down on their luck.
Sometimes, the look on someone’s face is all you need to make your day.
AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!
We LOVE Popeye’s Chicken. Yum. There’s one in the LV airport - you just have to walk a million miles to get to it from the Westjet terminal.
Comment by Kim — November 8, 2009 @ 5:13 pm