He has been greeted a new day,
not by a full breakfast, but by the pangs of hunger.
Able to wake up and open his eyes,
is a miracle, as God has showed him mercy,
not to take away his life in this spine-chilling winter,
only wearing patched-up-clothes.
Starting the day with figuring out where to get food,
and where he can make money.
He always chooses a place next to
a restaurant/cafe/fast-food shop.
He likes to be greeted by the aroma of food,
thinking in a positive way,
he hopes to pick up some scraps or leftovers.
How can he get money?
Life is harder for him as he can't compete with the others.
What I mean by the others are
those who have the musician's genes,
but have no idea why they end up on the streets.
Those who have special abilities,
that they are able to stand so still for God-knows-how-long.
Even those who are disabled,
'cause they deserve more sympathy than him.
So, he can only bow down his head.
I believe that you guys are not strangers to the pain of
feeling like getting shot at the back of your neck
when you lift your head up after bowing down your head
for "quite a period of time".
This kind of pain no longer bothers him.
In front of him, is his favourite,
one and only "worthy" possession,
his torn baseball cap.
Throughout the whole day,
his sights never leaves the cap.
If he is lucky, he can get like a dollar or more.
If not, he will end up getting nothing,
like most of the days.
He never pays attention of what is surrounding him.
Because he is EMBARRASSED.
But one day,
there's a pair of shoes appeared in front of him,
a man's shoes, he didn't expect much,
thinking, this guy is probably trying to dig out
some change from his pocket after a big meal.
Never in his expectation will he imagined that,
this guy handed him a bag of McDonald's,
inside it is not just a burger,
there's even chips and a drink.
IT IS A MEAL!
He has forgotten when's the last time he had a proper meal...
He will never in his life forget this day,
he finally lifts up his head,
the lump forming in his throat has
stopped him from saying Thank You.
Didn't wait for him to calm himself,
the guy just handed out his hand and held his,
saying 'God Bless'.
You know, people,
sometimes, we are embarrassed of helping a homeless person
by giving him some coins,
not to mention buying him a meal.
We don't want to get any unnecessary attention.
I admit that.
The reason I make the word 'EMBARRASSED' all in capitals is,
can you imagine the embarrassment of being the homeless guy,
bowing your head on the street of a big city?
And also,
how can you buy anything with a dollar,
when a small pack of chips costs us more than $2?
One last question,
what does the below picture tell you?
This office lady doesn't care about
what people may think of her,
(well, she may look a little bit embarrassed)
she is giving this homeless guy
a chance to make his money,
despite it is in the middle of the street,
with so many pairs of eyes looking at her.
I wrote this post,
not intending to ask you guys to be generous in giving,
but to pay more attention at your surroundings,
and being aware of the slightest hope and blessing that
you can give to someone.
xoxo
PS, this post's credit goes to my friend, Julius,
a guy who bought a Double-Whopper meal,
for a homeless guy.
You are awesome!