It seems that many of the encounters that God
directs are centered on drinking coffee or eating a meal. Thursday afternoon, May 21st was
no different, the call for coffee, and writing, was again nagging at my heart’s
desire. I had gotten off the train at
W4th and was walking a bit before I went to The Mission. I actually wanted to stop and do some
writing. Doing that while sipping on a
Latte was the direction I was headed. I
stopped off at Crave coffee shop that I’d been to before on previous
trips. I ordered my drink and sat down
at a long table with eight stools around it.
I like to sit next to the window so I can look out while I write. The coffee shop had a few other customers at
other tables, and there were some ladies at the end of my table. I began to write, and sip, not more than 5
minutes went by and a man came in to the shop.
He had a 2x4 that was about 2 feet in length, along with an electrode
looking type device. He was wearing a non-descriptive hat that was quite worn. Yes,
he fit the description that I had seen so many times before. He had a dollar bill in his hand, and was at
the counter trying to order. He was hovering
over the pastry section, pointing at each one, waiting for the affirmative that
from the clerk, but all were too much for what he had.
My eyes were fixed on what was happening. I put my pen down and walked over to the
counter, and asked him what he would like.
I couldn’t understand what he said. The clerks were kind of annoyed with
him, like they just wanted to get rid of him.
I was between the man behind the counter, and the man with the 2x4, who
was now sitting on a stool, closest to the counter, at my table. I told the man behind the counter to give him
what he wanted to eat, and that I would pay.
I noticed there was a customer at the next window ordering
who was taking all of this in. It was
difficult to figure out what the 2x4 gentleman wanted because he kept asking
for a bologna sandwich. They didn’t have
bologna. Finally I offered him a chicken
wrap, coffee and brownie for dessert. I
got out my found debit card, handed it to the cashier, when suddenly the
customer standing at the window ordering took money out of his wallet and
handed it to me. He said, “Here I’m in
too,” and handed me some cash. I looked
at him in awe, and thanked him. He too
had been stirred in that moment.
That is the first time in my year and a half of
doing this that someone has offered in that situation. He saw what was happening and wanted to
help. Sometimes people don’t know what
to do, so they don’t do anything. In
this case, an opportunity presented itself.
It was like a domino effect. One
action, lead to another.
The 2x4 guy sat down, and ate. I found out his name was Charles. He was obviously mentally ill. I asked him about the 2x4, and electrode-looking
device. He had a logical
explanation. It was a device for
measuring something about the full moon.
I’m always willing to engage in a conversation, even if it doesn’t make
any sense to me. It made sense to
him. I gave him Dunkin Donuts cards to
use at another time. We sat, he at one
end of the table and me at the other, feasting on the nourishment that each of
us needed at that moment.
 |
| Charles |
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