i went running this morning (yes, you read that correctly) and in the process of doing so, i passed my favorite taqueria- they make tortillas fresh and press them before putting them on the grill, which is a Game Changer- and there's a homeless woman sitting out front that asked me something, but i had my headphones on and didn't hear her. Since my training right now is just doing loops around the block (1.01 miles) i passed her a second time, but this time I took off my headphones and asked her what she asked me the time before. She said she was hungry and was hoping to get some money to eat.
Note: the taqueria is next to a liquor store and despite the early hour, she's drunk.
I tell her i don't have my wallet (i didn't) and apologized. I continued on my run, and once i got home, i grabbed my wallet and ran back towards the taqueria. she was still sitting there, so i asked if she could stand and walk with me inside the taqueria and she did. I had her order some food, I paid for it, and we sat and talked for a few minutes...former tech person, she got sick, husband committed suicide bc he thought she was terminal but miraculously lived, leaving her with the guilt of her husband killing himself for her and she lived, so she's been "committing slow suicide" for a couple of years, although she couldn't tell you because she doesn't know where in the calendar she/we are now...
the whole thing reminded me of a couple of kernels of wisdom for a wednesday morning. 1) homeless people are people, some who have stories eerily similar to stories I or people close to me have gone through, 2) compassion for the people on the margins is a good thing and 3) sometimes it's not enough to just *want to* act and/or do the right thing, sometimes you just have to do it.
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