What makes me sad is that last week..I was at the CVS pharmacy in my neighborhood and while approaching the parking lot...there was this guy who was waving at me from a distance. I had assumed it was the manager of that particular store since most of the employees there knows me..but once I got closer...it was not him..it happened to be a homeless person. This guy approached me and asked me if I had a few dollars so that he could buy him something to eat. He went on to share a small detail of how he became homeless. I had also noticed that while telling me this story, tears were falling from his eyes. However, what was really surprising is that while he was talking...I realized that I knew this guy from frequenting the gay club that I worked at. He was very popular and always had a lot of guys around him. Apparently, his life has hit a stumbling block and he was down on his luck.
Once he finished with his story...I told him that I had to go in to pick up a few things and if he would wait ...I would be more than happy to take him to one of the local diners and treat him to a meal. He then mentioned to me that because of his appearance...he was not welcomed into the local diners...but he was welcomed into the local McDonald's. Nonetheless...I understood and agreed to his request of what he was saying because he did have on dirty, raggedly clothes and appeared to have blood on his hands and face as well. He agreed to wait on me in the parking lot. Surprisingly, while shopping...one of the pharmacist who knew me and called me over to her area to inquire about the guy and what he wanted from me. I went on tell her that I asked him to wait on me because I was going to buy him some food. She then went into a rage and went on to mention that I should not help this guy out and it could be dangerous for me because he could be running a scam.
I explained to her that while chatting with him ...I could tell that he was being honest and if by some chance he was not...well..that was okay too because the way I see it is that God knows that I was being compassionate towards his situation and my heart was genuine in offering to help him and that's enough for me. She then just looked at me for a second and told me to just be careful. To conclude...I walked the guy to the McDonald
s and once I saw that he was turned away from going inside...I gave him money to buy him whatever he wanted and went on about my business.
To say the least...the pharmacist behavior did bother me to a certain degree because not every homeless person is running a scam and the way life throws curve balls...we just never know if there may come a time when we could be in the same situation. Otherwise...you never know and never say never. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who have the same mind set when it comes to homeless people as the pharmacist does.