I Hugged A Man on the Street...And We Cried.

Tweet

I lied to my husband once. It was about money. I told him I didn't have any spending money for our visit to San Francisco in 2009. I was basically telling the truth, as it wasn't really MY money to keep. I just knew I was supposed to give it to people on the street. I hugged a man and we cried.

I still cry when I think about it. As my family and I were leaving our hotel on foot to go and see the sights, I spotted a man sitting in a wheelchair by a tourist shop across the street. When I was close enough for him to hear me, I said, "Good Morning". He started crying. He said, "You're the first person who's said 'Good Morning' to me in a long time." (I started choking on my tears).

That broke my heart! Imagine a world where people are so cold and callous, they won't even say 'Good Morning' to someone - because they might ask for a few bucks? Because someone just might ask for help and they'd have to actually do something for someone other than numero uno?

Well, it ain't hard to imagine because that's the society we live in. Where making sure the color on the bottom of your high-heeled shoe is red and almost everyone is super concerned about having the best, latest and greatest. Who cares about some no-name lowlife on the street? Well, God does and that man on the street IS my neighbor. And yours.

So, I gave him whatever I was supposed to give and hugged him as we both cried (I couldn't hold the tears back even another minute). My family had kept walking and they were looking back at me like I was crazy. If that's what crazy looks like, then I'll ***gladly*** accept that label. Yep.

What people do with the money we give is not our business. Some may say, "Don't throw your money away! They're just gonna buy beer or drugs.". So what? Maybe they won't. Regardless, it's between them and God. None of my beeswax, or yours. The point is, "they" are human beings and we ALL need to know someone cared about us at one time or another. We do what we're supposed to do and God takes care of the rest.

I didn't "preach" at him, either. I prayed silently as we hugged. I had a feeling my buddy in San Francisco already knew where the love was coming from anyway.


*This is the first time I've shared this story. I didn't say anything for over two years. I just didn't want to seem like I was "tooting my own horn" or something. You know, we can't "fix" people or solve every problem, but we can show kindness to one person at a time. To me, that's what humanity is about and we need to preserve it.