Our dryer is currently not drying. Robert drives me to work on the weekends, so today he did some laundry and brought it to dry at the laundromat after he picked me up from work. We bought some take-out and ate in the car outside once we had our stuff going. After Robert was done eating he played on his laptop outside the car mostly. I did a little bit of reading but mainly ended up watching the other people in the laundromat through the glass. There was a guy and what looked like compared to him, an older woman together. I didn't watch them too much, I felt something like a peeping tom. Let's just say that by their actions, I don't think it was his mom. There were also a couple of Mexican guys that weren't there long after we arrived. Then there was this guy by himself. The first thing I noticed about him was that he had one of those tote like bags on his back, the handles on his shoulders like book bag straps. I wasn't paying really close attention at first, his getting up and down just looked like waiting for laundry to be done. He was sitting down at one point and you know how sometimes you have like nervous energy and you pat your leg really fast? He was doing what seemed like a very hyped up version of that. If it wasn't July I would have thought he was shivering. Then he took his bag off his back and slowly starting going through it. It looked mostly like dirty or wet clothes. He pulled out the pockets of some pants, they were empty, and just put it all back in the bag. I wondered at first if something was wrong with him mentally? His actions just seemed so odd and I was seeing him from a distance. I also wondered if maybe he'd stolen the clothes? He would get up, stand around in a spot, walk back and forth, go outside for a minute, go back in, sit down, mess with his bag, get up, sit down, on and on, and he kept on with the nervous energy thing every time he sat down. When he came outside is when I noticed how dirty he was, his clothes and bag looked like they had dirt all over them. I asked Robert if he'd heard him say anything or seen him do anything odd, if he thought anything was up with the guy. He said he was probably just waiting on some clothes. I didn't think so and I couldn't see any clothes washing or drying near where he kept sitting. He came outside once while Robert was talking to me and he added, well baby, he's probably homeless. He wasn't starving anyway, he had a bit of a belly on him. I kept watching him. I wondered if he was hoping someone would leave some change lying around? I wondered why he was so fidgety and couldn't keep still. I wondered if his clothes needed to be washed but he didn't have the money? I wondered what his story was, why he was there, what he was doing, what he was waiting for? As Robert loaded up the clothes to go, the guy came out and kept going instead of standing and then going back inside, I guess he was finally leaving. As Robert got in the car I blurted, I just wonder if he needs some money or something. Robert was like, do you want to give him some? I've never done anything like this before so I was just like, well, if you want to, if you think we should, I just feel bad for him, what if he needs something? Robert told me to get him the money out of the dash. I am glad we had it, we don't have cash often. It was a $5 and some dollar bills. He pulled up along side of him and motioned for him. The guy came over and Robert asked him if he needed a helping hand and held the money out. The guy said, I could really use it and then he added that his wallet had been stolen. I don't know what it was but it almost brought me to tears to hear him say that. He said thanks and Robert said something about getting something to eat and he said thanks again and that was that. I'm not trying to brag about this, ooh, I did a good deed. It's just that this kind of thing has never come up before, I've never done anything like it, and I know I'll be thinking about this guy, this stranger for days. Is he okay? Is he going to find some help? Did he really need it? I think he did but you never know. I know that there are instances where people are just being greedy and taking advantage of people who want to help. If you've never heard Robert's story about the guy who asked him for some money you should ask him about it sometime. I have to wonder if our dryer isn't working for a reason, you know? I hear stories all the time, have read them in my e-mail but don't know that anything has ever happened to me specifically that way, that I'm aware of. They say there are no coincidences, there is only God and I think I do believe it. I do want to make a difference in this world and I do hope that this evening meant something to this person, whether it was just the money he needed or to know that there are some people that care out there. And of course this reminds me of how lucky I really am. Excuse me, blessed. That's why I get so upset with myself sometimes when I get so depressed about what really, in the end, amounts to nothing. Things, it's all stuff! Well I mean, sure, some of it is important. Money could mean more time with the people I love. But I think you get what I'm saying. I want a new house. I want a new car. I want to quit my job. I want some new rubber ducks. I want this, I want that. Please! My current house is nice and huge and some people just need some shelter! And there are probably a lot of people who would love to have my job, not only is it a job, it's a stable job with good benefits and hey, you get to eat for free! And as far as ducks go, hey, yes, we have debt and we don't have money to spend left and right, but when I want something, I usually get it, and that's a huge bonus kind of blessing. I try my darndest not to take all these things for granted, it's so easy to, and it's so easy to just complain about petty things, and I always feel really good but really bad at the same time, when I get reminded of all my many many blessings. So, I'd like to ask you to say a prayer for this stranger that we came across tonight, if you don't mind. Maybe you can throw in a few strangers of your own, someone you saw in the grocery line that had to put some things back, someone you saw that was getting bullied by someone, you could even pray for the bully. Did you see any strangers today that caught your attention? You're reading this now and there are no coincidences. Right?
-ladyworpledinker
No comments:
Post a Comment