There is Kindness in the World and why I will never be a Duck hunter

Being home is weird because when you don’t live there most of the time, but you’re not really living elsewhere, it’s hard to figure out how things should go. I’m not sure my parents have quite figured out if I’m an adult or not. It’s like it’s instinct for them to tell me to put the glass in the dishwasher while I’m still using it, and for me it’s like I live on my own 90% of the time and you don’t think I know where a cup goes? But we’re figuring it out, and I do enjoy being home but for everyone’ sanity, maybe it’s a good thing I leave in a week…

This last week I got to vacation in Steamboat Springs which was lovely. The mountains are great winter or summer. On our way back home we passed through Denver to look at a wedding venue with my sister for her upcoming nuptials. We go there early so we decided to get coffee and sit outside since it was such a nice day. Well while we were sitting there chatting I saw a young man with a tattered coat and worn backpack walk up tot he trashcan  outside the coffee shop, lift the lid, and start going through every bag looking for uneaten food. He searched and searched and I found myself hopelessly wishing I had some food, or at least some cash to give him when he seemed to give up and start to walk away. Well, dear readers, I was not the only one watching. At a table near us there was a little family of grandma, mother, and two little girls eating an afternoon snack. As the young man began to walk away she hurried up to him, reached out a hand, and gave him a full sandwich and a banana. He smiled gratefully, almost a bit apologetically and walked away with the food in hand. The thing that really touched me about this, besides the fact that that man got to eat that day obviously, was that the woman gave up her own food, and no one saw it. I’m not saying that she should be given a parade for doing the right things, what I’m saying is she didn’t do the right thing and expect one. She did an act of kindness, in front of hundreds of strangers, and I don’t think anyone noticed but me. In fact, until she got up I was sure I was the only one who noticed the man at all. I wish we could all be like that woman. Because the problem is not homelessness, it’s the avoidance of things that make the rest of us uncomfortable. If we payed more attention maybe that young ma wouldn’t have to root through the garbage to find food. The war on poverty shouldn’t be relocating the homeless somewhere where we can’t see them. The war on poverty should be taking steps to see them relocated somewhere permanent and safe.

On a lighter note I went clay shooting with my father on Saturday and I still can’t raise my arms…