I TOOK A COUPLE OF MEN TO LUNCH TODAY

I TOOK A COUPLE OF MEN TO LUNCH TODAY…..

I saw them….that is the first step…..the “seeing” of “them”. They are the usual suspects….though, they might as well be invisible…..junipers, or azaleas, planted roadside. I’ve brought attention to them before….in writing.

This one I have known for over a year…I have a soft spot for this man…..one of the “men” of Bank of America…..the outside “staff”. I have taken Jose’ to lunch several times before….but his companion on this day….a soft spoken man who speaks tattered English, waiting for something to go his way….well, he came too. I told them to follow me to Subway…I had just finished my lunch…

It cost me $13.24. They both shook my hand…and showed a great deal of gratitude…it was quite possibly the best thing that would happen to them on this day…for me, too…though, I didn’t have a two hour bus ride each way to get home. I didn’t have to sit in the sun, waiting for a chance to earn a paycheck, on the steps of a bank.

I don’t write this to bring focus on myself….if you think so then I am o.k. with that. I write this to bring attention-------to paying attention. It was the ONLY thing I did today that helped someone who wasn’t my family member….hardly anything special on my resume’ (a C-), but, it did so much good…the “good” was totally disproportionate with the tiny effort that went into it. It didn’t just provide a meal for two hungry men…and they were hungry, trust me! It let them know….that someone was paying attention…they weren’t just props amidst a slurry of Range Rovers and Teslas….and Prada, and Yoga mats.

I made a connection…it took me just about 8 minutes….and $13.24. It was priceless. It was a privilege….and I can’t wait to do it again.

“Hey Boo!”

“Miss Jean Louise......Mr. Arthur Radley. I believe he already knows you”