A Man Who Loves Strawberries

I have a feeling that what I am going to try and express tonight is not going to come across in the correct way, but I am going to give it a shot anyway.  It is interesting how we don’t notice things as much, or contemplate them as much as maybe we should, because they don’t come up in topic.  Like I said, I am going to have some trouble expressing this one. Let me start another way…

This evening as I was driving home, I pulled up to the same stoplight with the same homeless man standing on the corner, asking for helping.  I am completely against giving money to homeless people as I believe that all it does is encourage and enable homelessness rather than help them.  As I was sitting there waiting for the light to change, I thought about how I had some strawberries in my car, and there was no reason why I needed all of them.  I rolled down my window and asked the man if he wanted some.  Let me paint this picture a little more by telling you that this man has been living on the street for a long time and the amount of dirt on his hands is probably past being able to get clean by soap and water.  His hands look like he has been gardening the entire day.  As he approaches my car, his face lights up and he says, “Strawberries!  I love strawberries!  Thank you!  He then smiles and with a chuckle says, “You don’t have any whipped cream in there do you?”.  I laugh and say, “No unfortunately I don’t,” in which he responds, “Well, I had to ask… Thank you”.  I am going to guess that if I had given this man a dollar, I wouldn’t have gotten even close to the same reaction.  I wouldn’t have experienced his charm or humor.  I wouldn’t have gotten quite the smile that you get with strawberries. 

The next thought that went through my mind is something that I am so happy did not become vocal.  Before I pulled away, I found myself thinking, “Oh! They haven’t been washed yet”.  I stopped myself from saying anything, as this was probably the least of this man’s concerns. 

The reason I bring this up is, tonight in class, we were discussing how people can have different frames of mind when it comes to certain subjects, because of experiences, current stage of life, etc.  What is important to one person, may be furthest from the next person’s mind.  I brought this situation up in class as an example of how you may not make a connection with some people because of these differences and how you have to be aware of these differences to truly be appreciative of what someone else is going through.   My point is, this man was happy about the strawberries.  He didn’t care what way they came to him, whether they were perfectly ripe, organic, or a perfect red color.  For him, (I am guessing) it didn’t even matter that they weren’t washed.  Those were my concerns.  Just because they are my concerns, doesn’t mean they are other people’s. 

I thought about this a lot more since it was brought up in class and it made me think more about that entire subject.  I didn’t notice as much from the situation until I retold the story.  And even now, I am remembering even more than I did the first time I told it.  Sharing these kinds of things, these stories, these experiences, make them richer.  It creates more meaning to them.  It helps me see them in different ways.  Noticing the details of another person is what makes them able to be more understood.  I don’t even know the beginning of this man, but I know him more than the woman in the car that passed him in front of me.  I know he loves strawberries.