Saturday, September 5, 2009

When A Homeless Person Gets Motivated...

OK, this story might seem a little lame, but it is true and happened to me today. I went to the local No-Frills to pick up some cases of bottled water (sorry David Miller), and saw this older gentleman who appeared to be homeless, walking around the parking lot approaching people unloading groceries into their car. I assumed he was panhandling.

When I came out of the store with my cart full and began unloading it, he approached me. Maybe I'm a little jaded from similar incidents in Toronto, but I readied for the worst. I was quite surprised when he asked if he could return my cart to the store and keep the 25 cents you need to put in to get a buggy. He explained that he wasn't begging, but had fallen on hard times and this was how he was getting money for food.

I asked how it was working and he said he made about $15 a day, enough to eat properly, although he hated the fact he had fallen on such hard times and had to resort to it. An elderly couple parked beside me said he returned their cart for them and brought their 25 cents back to them, as they were on a tight budget and though only a quarter, it still meant something to their budget.

So I thought, here is this guy, who people automatically stereotype because of his situation, standing on hot ashphalt in the blaring sun to be able to eat, and he still does a good deed for the elderly couple. Long story short, told the guy he had my respect, keep his head up as things will get better, and gave him $10.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a Conservative story, from start to finish.

The homeless man, is still looking for a way to better his life and providing a SERVICE vs a govt hand out.

You were inquisitive, weighed the options and MADE the investment.

The charitable and giving part, identifies the entire mindset.

This is a very cool story, all around!
Bec

Anonymous said...

Excellent, if someone could get this guy's name & offer him an easy more lucrative job ("easy" - because of his age "more lucrative" - more than $15/day) he could live a better life.

So far so EXCELLENT buddy.

Take the next step. As someone who's been down at the near bottom rungs of the ladder I'm here to say "You CAN move up and do it yourself with no handouts, welfare or charity!"

WE Speak said...

Bravo Zulu, to both of you!

hunter said...

I had an older man approach me as I was going with my kids into Tim Hortons, he was very polite and said he just wanted a coffee. It was an eye opener for my kids who want for nothing.

I didn't give him a coffee, I gave him $10 and he went into the Timmies and got it himself. Gave him some respect back I hope.

maryT said...

I think our lefties would be surprised at how often we conservatives have reached out to help the down and out. The saddest thing I have seen, looking out my hotel room window, and seeing a well dressed, white haired lady, going thru the trash looking for bottles. Couldn't help her as the garbage was in an enclosed area and one had to go around the block to get there.
Later that day, sitting outside, a guy come up for a cigarette, and he said, if you can afford to stay here you can afford to give me a cig. He got very angry and security come out. Seems he had been accosting guests for days. On another occasion, in Edmonton, saw a man and wife looking for discarded cigs, with a couple of drags left on them. They were working at a bottle depot, for a little money. I did give them a couple of cigs each and he offered to pay, I said no. You would have thought I gave them a million dollars.

KURSK said...

That $10.00 might be the best investment you could have made..one day, when this man gets back on his feet, he will repay the kindness, and so on..bravo..

Anonymous said...

Hi !.
might , perhaps very interested to know how one can manage to receive high yields .
There is no need to invest much at first. You may start to receive yields with as small sum of money as 20-100 dollars.

AimTrust is what you haven`t ever dreamt of such a chance to become rich
AimTrust incorporates an offshore structure with advanced asset management technologies in production and delivery of pipes for oil and gas.

It is based in Panama with affiliates around the world.
Do you want to become an affluent person?
That`s your choice That`s what you really need!

I feel good, I started to take up real money with the help of this company,
and I invite you to do the same. If it gets down to choose a proper partner who uses your funds in a right way - that`s AimTrust!.
I earn US$2,000 per day, and my first deposit was 1 grand only!
It`s easy to join , just click this link http://nebywyjuxy.maddsites.com/wyfahok.html
and lucky you`re! Let`s take this option together to become rich