Guest Posted August 4, 2021 Share Posted August 4, 2021 Laura and the kids were out of town for the weekend, and it was my mom's birthday so I stayed behind and took her out to dinner on Friday. Ruth's Chris, which made her super excited. It was good, but definitely not the best steakhouse I've ever been to. Saturday, I invited a bunch of single guys from a group we're in to come over for dinner. I grilled some burgers, made potato salad, a regular salad, and a coconut cake. Had beer in a cooler so I could make due with minimal house cleaning. Of the 8 people who were supposed to come, one guy came over. We hung out for a while, and after it was apparent nobody else was coming, we ate and then I suggested we go find some homeless people to feed rather than trying to shove the stuff back in my fridge or letting it go to waste. Tim, the guy who came, was super excited and actually volunteers doing homeless ministry and helps people a lot. I didn't know that at the time, but it made him super excited that I was the one suggesting it. So we loaded up the food (no beer), some paper plates, and a bag full of plastic utensils we've gotten from take out food over the years and got in the car. Before we had gone 2 miles, we passed a bus stop and stopped at a traffic light half a block away. The guy who was sitting at the bus stop ran up to us and said he hadn't eaten at all and wondered if we could get him some food or some money for food. So we said, yeah, we don't have any cash but we've got food! So I pulled over onto the side street and we got him set up with a nice plate full of food. He then asked us if we could give him a ride to meet up with some friends. I never do that. A friend of mine was victim of an attempted carjacking because he was dumb enough to give a guy a ride, but this guy was in his 60s and as skinny as a rail, so I agreed, as long as Tim was sitting in the back behind him. That way if there was any trouble, Tim could easily grab him. So we all got in the car and drove up near Ohio State's campus, where I learned a group of homeless people likes to hang out between two popular bars/restaurants, because there are always people there and it's not suspicious. So we got out and talked to them, delivered our food, got to hear some stories, and then packed back up and went to my house. Letting the guy ride with us was super stupid, but it worked out and ended up being a great evening with a better story than I would've gotten had people shown up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms. Spam Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 OH man that rocks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destiny Skywalker Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 You are super nice and also super crazy. I'm glad there are people like you. I'm admittedly terrified of people begging for money. I thought about getting some McDonald's gift cards to carry with me to give people a free meal but I'm afraid they will yell at me because that's not what they want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tank Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 You are a saint, Brando. Also, your friends are jerks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 Really, it was a cool experience. And without help from family, I would've been there myself in the past. We fortunately were always able to make our mortgage payments when I was sick for a year, but without help from family paying for food and other necessities, we would've at the very least had to sell our house to survive. And I'm one of the lucky ones who has some wealth built up in real estate. But hearing stories and seeing the excitement of these people was worth it, and way better than hanging out with friends. I'm also just glad that nobody got stabbed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zathras Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 Totally a righteous thing you did, Foz! That's some good karma there. Glad you didn't get murdered doing it, too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odine Posted August 6, 2021 Share Posted August 6, 2021 Nice one Fozzie! That's a real nice thing you did. I used to work at a coffee shop in Soho, so we'd get a lot of homeless people and junkies hanging around the place, particularly around closing time in the evening. But I'd usually end the day handing out a few free coffees and cakes and stuff to the local homeless and addicts that were around. I'd chat to them sometimes if they felt like it. And some of them shared their stories. Never gave anyone a lift though. Not that I had a car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerina Posted August 7, 2021 Share Posted August 7, 2021 Love the story! Hate the society that we've built that made it necessary. But that's a much better way to handle disappointment than most would have done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 7, 2021 Share Posted August 7, 2021 1 hour ago, Cerina said: Love the story! Hate the society that we've built that made it necessary. But that's a much better way to handle disappointment than most would have done. It’s sad, because we definitely could solve homelessness if we wanted to. At least the majority of it, but as a society we like having people to look down on, and it helps to keep people in low paying, crappy jobs because they don’t want to be homeless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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