“Today I performed a little bit of a sociology experiment. I frequent a Starbucks on Nicholasville Road, in Lexington, Ky. Everyday a homeless man sits outside, never bothering anyone, and in my engagement with him he doesn’t smell, and he’s very shy, so he’s otherwise like any other customer that sits outside, save for the fact he has his entire collection of worldly possessions with him in a big rucksack.
I watched car after car pass him by, and person after person ignore him. So I thought what if they couldn’t ignore him?
I bought various sandwiches, and pastries, and one by one I would ask people ‘Hey they gave me a free sandwich/dessert would you like it?’ Every person (I did this with 11 people) obliged, and thanked me, and just as I handed them the sandwich I pointed out the homeless man, and said ‘Oh there’s a homeless guy do you mind if I give it to him instead?’
Of the 11 people I did this to:
(I’m not saying that if you fit into either category that you are definitively like the people I encountered. I just used an entirely random sampling and these are the facts I reported.)
6 drove a new model car that I estimated in excess of $50,000. Examples: Tahoe, Volvo Suv, Ford Diesel F250… Each of them refused him the sandwich and kept it themselves.
5 drove older model cars that I valued under $10,000. Every single one gave their sandwich to him, and two even bought him water.
It makes me think that people who are driven by possessions can hardly see beyond the act of acquiring more and more. Where as the people who struggle, or value other things can relate to him and understand what a little help or kindness can do for someone.
We are all connected somehow, and we’ve had our bad days… How much did an act of kindness mean to you when you were at bottom?”
Credit- Brandon Lilly