do you ever have one of those days where the reality of life just hits you full on in the face? today i had one of those moments. today as i was walking to westside market to pick up some groceries for when my friends visit this weekend, i walked past one of the homeless men i see all the time. when you live in the city you start to recognize the people who hang out on the streets you walk every day. today though instead of just searching through the trash, he was eating lunch. out of the trashcan. on the street. in new york city. he hadnt even bothered to take the carton of leftover chinese food to a stoop to sit down, he was just leaning over the trashcan scooping the noodles up with his hands. and i will tell you….my heart absolutely broke. here i was on the way to the store to pick up my organic food, making sure it had no antibiotics, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, etc. and here he was …lucky to find some cold noodles in a trashcan. i dont know why hes homeless. i dont know why he lives on the street, whether he chooses to or not. but i know that he hurts. i know he probably wishes he could walk into the grocery story whenever he wants to pick up some bread and fruit to eat. maybe he doesnt even like chinese food.
there are so many hurting people in NYC. you see it everyday in their eyes as they walk by you on the street. they could be the homeless man with all his possessions(meaning a few pairs of boots and multiple sweatshirts) strapped to his back. they could be the businessman who is selling his soul to climb the corporate ladder. they are hurting because they have no hope. they are hurting because its a tough life, and there is no future to look forward to. there are so many starving people in this world. so many. matt and i had a conversation the other day and he said in this day and age he cant understand how people still dont have basic food. i dont know why it happens. but i know it does. i know there are people who are hurting from hunger, from depression, from poverty, from a lack of hope. what can you do today to make someones day a little better? what can you do to brighten someones day just a little so that maybe they aren’t hurting quite so bad. it might be the person you least expect.it might be the people you see everyday. or it might be the person who looks rough and down and ragged because its so obvious how much they need help and hope.
I love you. I love your sweet heart. And you just made me start boo hooing. At work.
This is proof that even noodles out of the trash are beter than organic food. I tried to tell you! LW
i totally agree. i saw more sadness, heartache and loneliness in people in one year in nyc than i have in my entire lifetime in nc! it was crazy to me to compare it to struggling countries like el salvador, where for the most part, even with the extreme poverty, the people are still happy, joyful, and loving. nyc is such a soul sucking place sometimes and people just lose themselves before they even know it. i often wondered if said homeless people eating out of the garbage had just lost all hope because nyc has the most soup kitchens in all of america! why not just go get a warm meal? but i definitely know exactly what you are talking about and, honestly, i do not miss that part of it all. i definitely felt like i could breathe deeper when i got back to the south! it is hard when it hits you all of a sudden though because it’s like, um, ok? what do i do with this?? 🙂