La~mour

Thursday, March 15, 2007

A gift of time in hour of need

A Simple Act of Giving can open doors for good to flow back to us.

There is something to be said for giving with a cheerful heart. Perhaps it is another state of being that opens up the channels through which good flows back to us.

I was sitting on a park bench at lunchtime when i noticed out of the corner of my eye a homeless person, a young man who looked to be in his mid-20s.

My first thought was: " Don't walk over here."

Then i decided :" If he comes, I'm going to talk to him like he's just another person, not like he is homeless."

The guy came over, of course. I smiled. He saw my braces and flashed a big smile with the worst-looking mouth i've ever seen.

His teeth were yellow and brown, terribly staine, and he had some kind of thick wire across them.

"These aren't braces," he said, laughing. "A man punched me. We were arguing. He broke my jaw. I had to get it wired."

"Sonds painful," i said.

"Not anymore," he said. "That's why I didn't go back to the hospital."

"You should get it checked, " I said, wincing not only from thoughts of the pain but also because he smelled pretty bad.
But i composed myself, remembering my promise.

"Would you have any money to help me buy lunch?" He hesitated a second, then pointing to a vending truck, he added: "I'm going right over there to buy a hotdog."

He was probably used to people thinking he was begging for money to buy liquor or drugs. I gave him a dollar.

Before he walked away, his personality changed. "I believe I could change my life for you," he said, flirting.

"Don't change for me, change for yourself," I sai, quickly slipping into one of my philosophy speeches.

"Oh, don't do that to me," he said, serious again.

I quickly understood. He just wanted to be a "regular" guy flirting with a woman. For a split second, i considered how long it must have been since a woman on the street just let him be a regular guy and had not been offended by his come-ons.

I gave him the pleasure of a return flirt. "I bet you would change for me," I said.
He smiled and as he walked over the truck, i considered the fact that i had just flirted with a homeless man,

After a while, i saw the guy walk over to a bed of flowers, bend down and pick some of the flowers.
I look up to see him standing in front of me with his hands behind his back.

"Promise not to laugh at me," he said.

"I would never laugh at you," I said.
He pulled the bouquet of flowers from behind his back and handed them to me.

"Th-th-this isn't much," he said, stuttering for the first time. "Y-y-you're a nice lady."

"Thank you," I said, rising to leave.
"It's not for the dollar," he said. "Anybody could have given me a dollar."

He musy have had second tothoughts because he said to himself, though loud enough for me to hear: "She'll probably throw them away."

I turned my back to face him," I would never throw them away. If I didn't want them, I wouldn't have taken them.

He winked, and as I crosses the street, walking away, he yelled:" I'd give up liquor for you, girl!I'll change my ways!"

i used to hink you had to give money to be rewarded for your giving.I ignored the importance of giving yout time.
But since then, i've discovered that sometimes your time is of greater value to those who need help more than your money could ever be.

-----------An abstract from Moments Of Grace by Patrice Gaines-------------------

Daddy said something which took me by surprise: I was mentioning my plans to buy the hana kimi to cheer mysel fup when im sad. He asked me when was there ever a chance i get unhappy. =.= geez, my daddy sure knows me eh..lol..tired shall go zzz, till then!~

LA~mour at 11:16 PM