People Are People

                I was walking into the TA in Barstow Saturday night when a gentleman sitting on the curb - with what I assume was all his worldly possessions in a backpack - asked me for a cigarette.  I was on my way to work out, so I didn’t have any with me and told him that.  When I came back from working out he was gone, but when I came out from my shower he was back.  I deposited my shower bag in the truck, grabbed my smokes and went over to him.

                I sat on the curb with him for about 30 minutes just having a normal conversation.  His name was Jacob and he had hitch-hiked from Oklahoma to California with a plan of doing construction work down in San Diego.  He’d been talking to someone on the internet and was told he would have work if he got there.  He told me that this was the 4^th time he had crossed the country hitch-hiking and told me of some of the more interesting things that have happened to him in his travels.  I asked him if he’d ever considered writing a collection of these stories and getting them published.  We talked about our kids, work, my upcoming vacation and our faith.  (He is a Christian, too.)  I gave him the rest of my pack of cigarettes and bought him a shower with loyalty points and then I had to get to bed.

                If you’re a Christian, you’ll understand what I mean when I say, “I felt like God wanted me to just go sit and talk with him.”  It was the type of normal conversation I’ve probably had 100 times with various friends.  He never asked me for anything but a cigarette.  I never felt unsafe; we were out in public in a well-lit area.

                I’ve thought about that conversation a few times over the past week.  There was nothing profound said, and probably nothing particularly important.  I didn’t do anything great.  I just had a conversation with a stranger.  What was important to me was just following my instincts and doing what I felt I was supposed to do.  I’ve also been thinking about some things that have been going on around the country that show us to be horribly divided; i.e. the Charlottesville riots a few weeks ago.  But, also the images coming from Texas of people coming together to help random strangers after Hurricane Harvey.

                It costs nothing to be nice to someone, but taking the time to do so changes the world… even if it only changes the world for that one person.