cornwallis is doing well. it's staggering the number of people who have stepped forward to help. i don't have the final figures yet, but i suspect by the end of the night the corn dog's bills will have been covered. this may sound totally cheesy, but i feel like for the past 2 days i have been a part of something bigger than myself. it feels good.
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today, in between rushed errands and phone calls, i pulled through a convenient burger king drive-thru. as i was placing my order (when did they get those LCD screens?) a scraggly old homeless man approached my car. he kept a respectful distance but handed a small slip of white paper through my open window as i as completing my order. it was a coupon for one free whopper with a purchase of what i had just ordered. he gave it to me and smiled a gentle, hungry little smile. it was clear he was asking for my help.
i quickly spoke into the drive-thru speaker, "oh! can you add a whopper to that?? i have a coupon for a free whopper..." i saw it appear on the screen, then the 100% discount on the next line.
the old man said to me, "thank you, pretty lady," then turned around and walked behind the far side of the building. i drove ahead to the window, paid and waited for the food. as i sat there in my car i saw him amble up across the parking lot to where the burger king driveway meets the street. he stood there, 100 yards ahead of me, just looking around, watching traffic, patiently waiting for me to deliver the extra whopper. i realized the cashier hadn't asked for the coupon. i didn't offer it.
after the bag of food passed out of her window and through mine, i slowly drove up to the man. i got a better look at him... he was in his 50s, a gray ragged beard contrasting against his black face and dirty yellow shirt. i pulled his whopper out of the bag and handed it to him with the unused coupon. "looks like you can use this again," i said with a smile.
he bent down and looked through the passenger side window, smiled back at me and said, "thank you." then, "have a blessed day." i drove home with my dinner and saw him walk across the street with his.
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i have had this jade plant for close to 10 years. it goes through phases of being unhappy with its life and drops its leaves as it resigns itself to death. but it never fully gives up, and a few months ago i set it in a sunny kitchen window and began watering it with wild abandon.
it recently rewarded me with a tiny little new branch:
awww, man. that brought tears to my eyes. it's been a good couple of days for ya, huh?
Posted by: joy at August 4, 2004 1:50 AMhelping people and growing things...
two good ways to want to wake up in the morning. awesome.
Posted by: michele at August 4, 2004 6:04 PMphil, it was the BK @ club & buchanan, right by northgate mall. i happened to drive by this evening and wondered if he was camped out by the drive-thru speaker, waiting for another beneficent whopper.
Posted by: christa at August 4, 2004 10:06 PMRenewing the subject - plants react to human emotion too. Try talking to your plant and telling it how much you adore it and how you love watching it grow. This was actually a science project that was attempted between 2 different plants where one was "talked down to" and the other was complimented every day. Results showed that the plant that was complimented every day grew up faster and better!