That being said, my grandma and I went to get dinner tonight and we decided that we would go to Zaxby's. I have wanted it for about a week now but haven't really had the chance to go, so (avoiding studying) tonight we had the time...so we went. When we got there we did the usual. Parked the car, went in and ordered, filled up our cups, found a table, and waited for our number to be called. But while we were waiting I kept watching this father and son, hoping that they would move because I wanted the booth that they were sitting in. (That sounds really rude, but I'm super OCD and that is not a topic that we have time to discuss in this post) Our number is finally called and I realize that we are going to be stuck at this booth because this father and son were taking their sweet time, and to be honest I was kind of irritated.
As I was sitting there eating my salad, I couldn't help but notice this little boy's frustration. He was trying to get his homework done and he kept getting distracted by his surroundings and wasn't really wanting to focus anyway. Eventually, the boy just broke down into tears and said "Dad, I want to go home now." I was thinking to myself, dude....let the boy go home. It's too distracting in here anyway.
At that point, the man stood up and walked over to our table. He asked us how we were doing, and pretty much discussed the basics of a typical friendly conversation between strangers. But then he asked me to help his son with his homework. I must say, I've never been asked by a stranger to help a little boy with homework, but I figured it couldn't be too hard. So I said "Sure" and walked over to the little boy. I introduced myself and asked him how I could help him... Of course, this little boy was working on history. My most hated subject but he looked to be in the third grade so I decided it should be simple enough. As the boy and I were working on his homework, he began to tell me different things about his life: how he wanted to play baseball but didn't have the time, he wished his mom would spend more time with him, he wanted his teacher to know that he didn't like her without being mean, how much he loved history because it never changed, so on and so forth. But that's when he said it.
We had just finished his homework, he thanked me and gave me a big hug, and said thank you so much....now we have time to get a room. And I said, "What do you mean, get a room?" The father spoke up and said, "We get his homework done first thing every night so that we can go wait in line for a room at the homeless shelter." I forget the name of the place that he told me, so I'm just going to leave it out. When the man said that, I couldn't help but burst into tears. I felt so sorry for these people. They are sitting in Zaxby's trying to keep warm and get this little boy's homework done for the next day of school before they have to go wait in line for a room that may or may not be available tonight, and here I am sitting at the booth next to them hoping they would leave so I could sit comfortably enough to suit my OCD.
This was definitely one of those humbling moments for me. It wasn't even a step through the door slowly kind of humbling moments, it was one of those....here's my fist and there's your face kind of moments. At that point, we knew they were hungry but as they had stated they needed to leave now if they wanted to get a place to stay for the night. But we bought them food anyway and let them sit with us and just talked with them for about an hour or so. It was one of the most eye opening moments I've ever had. We ended up calling my uncle and having him house them for the night, so that we knew they wouldn't be on the street in the freezing cold. But it is still so upsetting to me that I take so many things for granted.
I always knew about homeless people; I've even been a part of the homeless ministry at my church...but this was definitely one of those experiences that makes you change your outlook on life. I will say this much, I now have a new found love for history. I may hate it to the core of my being, but like the boy said....history never changes. I should be happy that I have the ability to pay for school and get the education I desire, without all of the complaining. I know that this was God's way of making me see things in a different light. But I just pray that I will begin to view things as they are, and not how I want them to be. Stop taking things for granted and be happy with what I have.