Cause for Pause. As I was walking to the Grants Pass MLS office, which is located only a few short steps away from my office, I had a cause for pause. You see, there is a resident homeless man who camps out on the side porch of our local MLS office. As I was walking on the sidewalk, he called out to me saying; "Watch your step, you don't want to trip, like the last time."
Initially, his comments startled me as I didn't see him right away. My next reaction was to focus on the sidewalk which was barely visible this time of year due to the fallen leaves from the trees, There is a raised section of the sidewalk that has buckled from an over-grown tree root. I had taken a tumble there once before, which was witnessed by the homeless man. He offered to help me then, but I quickly said no thanks, and went on my way.
On this day, I chuckled at his comment and said; "You remembered when I did the Superman slide on the sidewalk?" He laughed too. We exchanged smiles and I went on my way. But for several days after that, I couldn't stop thinking about our brief conversation. I wondered what caused this man to become homeless. I have seen him many times over the past year, but this was the first time I was able to look past his ragged dirty clothes and see a man who smiled and had a sense of humor.
Just a few days later, I asked him if he would like half of my tuna sandwich, and he said yes with a smile. It was a bit chilly that day with the temperature being somewhere in the low 40's. When I walked back to my office and made myself a cup of coffee, I thought he would probably like a hot cup of coffee too. When I offered it to him, I asked if he liked it black or with cream and sugar. He replied; "black," with another big smile on his tan weathered face. Once again, I went on my way.
It didn't occur to me to ask his name, but I hope to do so in the near future. For now, he is the homeless man who camps out on the side porch of our local MLS office. Today, I had a cause for pause. I will no longer ignore what is staring me straight in the face; the raised sidewalk, the superman slide, the kind words of a homeless man, and Loving Thy Neighbor as Thyself :)
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