A homeless man tapped on Holly's window. But. He didn't want money.... Is he for real?
| ABOUT HOLLY | DONATE | ||||
Living the Life of Holly |
Column # 160 He Needed
H-E-L-P |
| A homeless man tapped on Holly's window. But. He didn't want money.... Is he for real? |
|
www.livingthelifeofholly.com
The man leaned over and tapped on the window of my car. Um. Ok. That was a little strange. He was sort of invading my space by knocking, you know? But. I felt pretty safe. I mean. I could hit the gas if I needed to pull away from him, right? I let my window down a little bit. He leaned towards me. “How do you spell help?” He asked. He prepared for the answer by looking down at his cardboard and positioning his thick, black magic marker in the center so he could write the letters as I said them. OhmyGod. That’s exactly how my students used to ask for a word to be spelled. They’d look at me, make their request, then look down at their page and prepare to write the answer. The complexities of a homeless man who didn’t know how to spell the word help weren’t lost on me. “H—E—L—P.” I said, slowly. “Which way does the L go?” He asked, quickly. OhmyGod. That’s exactly the kind of question that my special education students would have asked me. The direction of the L is something that should be figured out by the beginning of first grade. Here was a man in his fifties who truly didn’t know. How could this guy ever get off the streets if he didn’t know which way an L went? We used to teach kids to take their left hand and hold the thumb out to the side with the other fingers pointed upwards. That would make an L shape going in the right direction. It would only help them if they knew which hand was left. If they did it with their right hand, their L prompt would go in the wrong direction. “The letter L looks at the P.” I reached into my purse and found a crumpled five dollar bill. I handed it through the window to him. “Here.” Hey. Lady. Thanks.” He said, with a genuine smile. “I need a new marker. I really do. Look.” He held up his sign. The letters were dull. Barely visible. “Now I’ll be able to buy a new marker with your money. And. I’ll be sure to walk around to all the other good people out here and let them use the new marker too.” “Good.” I smiled. The light had changed some time ago. The cars behind me were beeping their non-interest in our conversation. “Have a great day.” “You too.” He chased me off with a big smile of gratitude. All day I wondered about a world where a fifty-year-old man didn’t know which way an L went. Believe me. He wasn’t scamming. I’ve worked with students for years who don’t know little things like the directionality of letters. When they ask, they don’t make eye contact. They’re too embarrassed. They know they should know. How could this man leave his mark on this world when he couldn’t spell help? Later that afternoon I saw the same man standing on a different corner. The first thing I noticed was that the sign he held had dark, bold letters on it. I let my smile spread across my face. Ha. He did buy a new marker. And in looking around it appeared that the other good people out there also had dark, bold letters on their signs. I veered my car around so I would pass by him. I don’t know why. I didn’t have any more money to give him. But. I wanted another glimpse into his world. I looked over at his sign and lost any feeling of pride I might have had for giving him any help earlier that day. Sure. I had given him money, but my lesson hadn’t lasted. What had I expected? Oh. Sure. Those words on his sign were dark and bold and the message was the same. But. There was a difference in the delivery. HALP ME! Don't miss out! Sign up to receive a free copy of Holly's column via e-mail each week. (All e-mail addresses are private... NEVER, EVER shared.) Or send a blank e-mail to Holly@livingthelifeofholly.com Subject: Subscribe Me. Comment on this column in The Forum Or Send Holly your comments. Tell her what you really think! Your comments might be published on her website, or in her weekly Yahoo Group e-mail. Send Comments Wanna vote for your favorite column? Fan's favorite column picks will be added to the Fan's Favorite Five page. Send your pick for your favorite here. Fan's Favorite Column Pick Copyright © 2003 by Holly Winter |
bravenet.com