It's Quite A Ride… Stories With Jenn

He wandered over to where we were standing and asked up if we had any change. My friends and I immediately started digging through our pockets and in my car to scrounge up any money we could find.

We were hanging out in the parking lot of our local grocery store. It was just what we did back then. Our grocery store happened to be the end of the tiny town’s “cruise.” Kids in their parent’s cars and their rusty pickup trucks would cruise up and down the one way streets of our one horse town and eventually end up in the grocery store parking lot where we’d circle the wagons, station wagons that is, and hang out listening to music. That is, until someone got a little too rowdy and the police showed up and sent us all home. Ah, the good old days.

It was still early in the evening when he approached us. It was obvious from his dress and demeanor that he was homeless. He seemed genuinely in need and it felt important to help this man. When it was all said and done, we couldn’t have given him more than five or six dollars. We were a bunch of poor high school kids. He thanked us and went into the grocery store.

We felt good about our deed, about being able to give this man a meal. Imagine our surprise when he came out of the store a few minutes later with a six pack of beer. My immediate emotion was one of surprise and disappointment but when he saw that we were still in the parking lot and were looking his direction, a look of intense embarrassment crossed his face. He approached us again and I was taken aback when he apologized for his purchase. He then began to tell us of how he became a homeless traveler. He had lost his son and afterward, his wife left him. His life had fallen apart. He lost his job and started to wander. He said the alcohol helped him cope with life’s circumstances.

At the time, I believed his story wholeheartedly. After living for nearly fifty years on this earth, having a greater understanding of human dishonesty but also having experienced my own intense pain and loss, I don’t know that it matters whether he was telling us the truth or what he thought we wanted to hear. We each approach life and its trials differently. Our coping mechanisms and support systems are different. Life hurts and it’s not easy to be strong all the time. As life has knocked me down, I have been blessed to be able to find strength in the adversity but not everyone can find their way out of the hurt. One thing I do know is that we all deserve empathy and compassion.

To this day, I still think about that homeless traveler. I wonder if he found healing and a sense of peace in his soul. That one, seemingly unimportant, interaction as a teenager did so much to guide how I have approached interactions with strangers throughout my entire life. These moments are given to us for a reason and I am always thankful for the lessons they give.

I truly hope you found your way home, sir.