The Homeless Man

So...tonight we went to dinner at The Blue Iguana with some friends. Parking is always tricky downtown and as we pulled into what we thought was a parking lot a homeless man was walking and signaled to us to go around...not sure what he was telling us to do but we backed out and found another parking lot to park in. We went into the restaurant, waited for our turn to eat and then visited and had a great time. Casey ordered the Burrito Grande-it was huge-IF he finished it we got a free dessert-he's always up for a challenge! I am sure he could have finished it but I begged him to save it for lunch tomorrow. He was being so thoughtful to try to get a free dessert for ME since he doesn't really like dessert but we were stuffed! :) We had all filled up on their awesome chips & salsa and ate as much of our dinners as we could. We got our to go boxes-one for his Burrito Grande and one for my cheese enchilada with no onions, no lettuce, no tomatoes because that's how I like it!!!
As we were walking back to our car the same homeless man was sitting by the sidewalk with his "Hungry & Homeless please help" sign and I felt a little guilty. I thought of a story Hilary Weeks tells on her blog about watching somebody give their leftover food to a homeless person and what an impact that had on her. That in her mind she would be afraid that it might have germs on it so they wouldn't want it...but when they are hungry they really don't care if your fork touched their bite. They are just hungry. SOOO...I approached the man with my 2 leftover styrofoam boxes. I peaked inside to make sure I was offering him MY leftovers instead of Casey's. I was expecting a little bit of a spiritual experience. That I would be serving my Savior by serving this man. That he would not be hungry anymore and that this little gesture from me might make a difference in his life. So not what happened!
He looked at me and said, "I have 3 of those in my paper box over there!" and he pointed toward the road. I was a little shocked and looked around to see what he was talking about. I said, "No, sir, it's a cheese enchilada and it's really good." I opened the styrofoam box so he could see his dinner he should be excited about. I of course had to get closer to him-he really didn't smell very good and he had snot (or something) rolling down his mustache. He really looked so cold! He repeated, "I already have 3 of those in my paper box over there!" I looked again to where he was pointing-I could see a garbage can and a recycle box. At this point I didn't know whether to laugh or cry-I was so confused-and I was alone with this man who I was pretty sure wasn't sober. Casey & friends were not there with me-they continued walking and were probably wondering what I was doing! I told him good luck and left. Funny-maybe if 3 other people had given him their dinner he needs a new sign-maybe one that says "I need money."

I laughed really hard-especially as I was telling the story when we got in the car. We had to drive by him when we left. THAT is when we realized there was a "Free papers" box by the recycle and garbage cans and that's where he put his food others had given him. The "Free Papers" box was really his fridge! We all started to laugh when we figured that out.

In all seriousness I know we are blessed when we serve. I wish my food could have helped this man and I hope I won't be afraid to approach someone another time if I feel like I can help them. I have been blessed with so much and am grateful when I have an opportunity to share with others around me-my time, my talents, my "stuff". Times are tough for so many right now and I believe we will all become better as we lighten eachother's loads. I know as we seek to serve our Heavenly Father we will be given opportunities and those opportunites bring us closer to Him. THAT is what life is all about!