SUCH A SIMPLE CONCEPT!

A while back, I was traveling back home from a long day at the office and stopped at a local grocery store to get a snack and a something to drink. I parked and was walking across the parking lot to the store when I encountered a rather large black man walking in the same direction. He was limping, walking with a cane and carrying a plastic grocery bag stuffed with clothing. He appeared to be in his late 50’s, was unshaven, his clothes were ragged & torn.

 As I scurried by, I engaged him and he seemed surprised that I would acknowledge him. For whatever reason, the image of this man intrigued me so I struck up a conversation and walked beside him to the store entrance. He told me his name was Phillip and he hadn’t eaten for 4 days. Worse yet, he was out of his meds and was living under the underpass where I exited the freeway to get to the grocery store. 

 The man impressed me as a gentle and capable person who had simply fallen on hard times. Turns out he was in an auto accident and his injuries prohibited him from getting his job back so he was out of work. As for family, he had only one daughter but she was living in the area. She offered to take him in but in his own words… “there is too much going on there for me. I’d rather live under the bridge”. (You can interpret that for yourself).

 How do you get money for food, I asked? He said he tries to gather the grocery carts and offer assistance to customers in the parking lot. Unfortunately, the store manager had asked him not to do that for insurance reasons. So he had little money.  As we walked into the store, I instructed him to get a grocery cart and go get $30 worth of the stuff he needs. He looked at me in disbelief ) as if I’d offered him a thousand dollars) and nearly broke down crying. No exaggeration. 

 He proceeded to choose the items he desperately needed, but, in addition to his own purchases, he followed me as I bought him a roasted chicken, a Styrofoam ice chest, a bag of ice and, at his request… a can of Hot Shot garden bug killer. I asked him what the heck was the Hot Shot for and he explained; “these little centipede like crawly things get all over me at night when I sleep”.

 While waiting for him to finish his shopping, I spoke with the store’s assistant manager who was watching the entire episode. I asked if he was the nice person that he appeared to be. She confirmed he was a “great guy and that he hung out around the store a lot”. She teared up as she thanked me for helping him. (I had to ask because you never know.  When it comes to these kind of situations, I’m a sucker and I’m easily taken advantage of by imposters). 

Once shopping was done, there was no way Phillip could carry all his new purchases by himself back to his “space” under the bridge, so, I gave him a hand. Besides, I wanted to see just where he was camping out anyway. Turns out, Phillip had found a tiny space at the very top of the underside of the bridge on a ledge between the bridge and its foundation where it connects with the ground. I wish I could describe it for you better but, in order to reach it, he had to negotiate a 30-40 degree, sloping concrete embankment. I couldn’t help him because I had on slippery street shoes and would have surely slipped down the embankment into oncoming traffic meeting certain death. Frankly, to this day, I don’t know how in the world he managed to traverse the slope without falling.

 After storing the last item, he came back out to the grassy side area where I was waiting and watching. He thanked me profusely, we said our goodbyes and I left.

 As I pulled back onto the freeway headed home, I had this thought. 

 While I’m sure I made Phillip’s day, what Phillip doesn’t know is that he made my day and the mutual respect and appreciation for each other that we shared while in the store enriched the lives of all who were watching. Then I cried!

It’s important that you know this post is not about me. It’s about YOU and “the Phillips of the world”. Times have not been easy for many of us recently, and I get that.  But there is nothing more personally therapeutic and rewarding than helping someone less fortunate when you give personally of yourself especially when you have little to give. It’s really a simple concept at all levels and under all conditions… Do good…. Feel Good!