Day 11

A lady and her sister were driving home from Northern California, Pleasanton, to be exact. They stopped at a Chevron station to get gas and to walk their dogs. They saw there was a homeless man sitting on the ground on the grass area with a dog next to him holding a sign that said something along the lines of "Hungry, Homeless. Will work for food". They finished getting gas and pulled the car up next to him and the man came over to their car. He realized they had a chow (a specific dog breed) in their backseat. He instantly started talking about how when he was a kid, his dad used to raise chows, and then started talking about chow behaviors, temperaments, and characteristics. The lady said you could tell he really knew his stuff because he was right on about the dogs. Both the ladies show dogs, so they also knew a lot of information about that breed. He told them that his current dog was his whole world and he would he lost without her. Being that the two ladies are dog lovers themselves, that really hit home for them and touched them. They chatted with him for a bit longer and then gave him some money. He was very appreciative and thanked them numerous times. He told them to drive safe and to have a good day. The lady mentioned to me that she really liked talking to him because he had a story and felt really bad for him. She said you can tell he was a guy with a "normal" life and memories, and just somewhere down the road, hit some bad luck. She mentioned that she thinks about him every now and then and wonders how he is doing. Unfortunately she might not ever know, but I think it is safe to say that if she was impacted by him, he was probably impacted by them in return. They could have made his day, not only that they gave him money, but because they were talking about some great memories of his and something that meant a lot to him. 

Everyone, homeless or not homeless, has a story. It's the story that got them to where they are at today. People might have went down the wrong path, people might have lost a loved one, people might have been betrayed and abandoned, people might have been raped or sexual abused, people might have gotten into drugs, people might have had a privileged lifestyle that led them down the wrong path, people might have had big shoes to fill, people might have came out and their parents disowned them, people might have got involved with the wrong crowd, and people might have had a relatively normal upbringing, but then something happened. 

How many of you have stopped to chat to a homeless person? Within safety measures, strike up a conversation with a homeless person. Get to know them. Find out their story. If you show interest in them and acknowledge they are human beings, it might make their day.