** This article is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as shared with me by a friend who experienced them firsthand; used with permission.
Having a child in treatment for cancer meant many early mornings for my friend. Once each week for fifteen weeks, she had to be downtown at the children’s therapy center at 8:00 am sharp for her daughter’s weekly treatment.
Unfortunately, this meant that they had to leave their home by 6:00 am. Getting a child stricken with cancer and her young son ready to leave the house by 6:00 am was no easy task. Both of her children required some assistance, and she still had to ready herself. Therefore, much of her preparations took place the night before.
Since it was so early, my friend started going to a local fast food place after they arrived in the downtown area so that her children, and she, could grab something to eat before they went to the children’s therapy center. One such morning, they walked into the fast food place, and as soon as the manager saw them enter, he went over to a man that was sleeping in a booth at the fast food place.
As my friend and her two children went to the counter to place their order, they couldn’t help but notice that the manager was struggling to wake the man who was sleeping. The man would stand up and stretch and then sit back down in another booth and doze back off. It was clear that the man was homeless and trying to warm up and grab some rest.
The manager turned and apologized to my friend that the homeless man was in there. My friend was undaunted and ordered an extra breakfast meal to go. After she settled her children into a different booth area to eat, she called the manager over, handed him the meal to go, and asked him to deliver it to the homeless man.
The homeless man thanked the manager profusely and left the fast-food establishment. Whether he had been waiting for someone to feed him or simply resting and warming up was irrelevant at this point in time. My friend had just taught her son to treat others as he wanted to be treated. Would you have taken your children and left, avoided the man entirely, or bought the man a meal and helped send him on his way?
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