Monday, November 17, 2008

A DC Moment

I looked at my monitor; it's barely 5 PM. I gazed through the misty glass windows, and it's still raining outside. It's been raining since I woke up this morning. My thoughts were telling me that rain is typical at this time of year. I walked towards the window and looked 11 floors down. Colorful umbrellas adorned the streets. People were rushing to get home as if they're being chased by raindrops. I planned on leaving in thirty minutes, when at the corner of 14th street I spotted a homeless man, sitting on a bench and eating chips under the rain. My heart sank and was filled with pity. I couldn't stop looking at him.

After a few minutes, I saw the homeless man dumped a bunch of chips on the pavement. I guess I was looking at the man too intently that I failed to notice a number of birds have started to convene around him. My heart sank even more as I was touched by this man's generosity. I was delighted to see that more birds flew in to get closer to him. It was free food after all.

I couldn't see the man's face, but he slowly stood up and reached for his cane. He slowly turned towards the birds and out-of-the blue started whacking his unknowing victims. I was taken aback and was filled with shocked. Oh how my thoughts were wrong. I shook my head, got my things and headed home.

12 comments:

  1. The narrative almost did melt me because the man's generosity was aptly described. The last paragraph shocked me! Some people/things are so superficial and deceiving.

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  2. Hello Wits, I was really surprised at what I saw. It is interesting to watch people sometimes.

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  3. Grabe! What an anticlimactic ending! Just goes to show that not all seemingly good things are good. :)

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  4. Kg, That is so true, my expectations were so wrong.

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  5. I thought this was fiction. This was a story with good lesson. Appearance can be deceiving could be one. Shucks! And we were all so willing to think good things about the man.

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  6. I feel for the man at first, it wasn't really a good ending, but yeah, some people are really superficial...

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  7. On the one hand, one feels sorry for the guy b/c he's homeless and probably hungry. He was just doing what he had to do to survive. Although, I can't imagine that there aren't soup kitchens or homeless shelters he can go to in order to eat.

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  8. I like the story at first, but the ending wasn't good, there are just so many hypocrites and superficial people nowadays. Take care always. Be safe!

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  9. Maybe that's the reason he is homeless? Bad karma from his earlier life?

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  10. He probably got fed up when the birds showed up and started picking on his 'free' food. I understand though how the sudden change in his behavoir would be shocking to watch.

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  11. Layrayski, It's not fiction =). I couldn't believe it either.

    Sheng, That's how I felt. My heart was really touched, but unfortunately, disappointed in the end.

    Wil, That's true, there are soup kitchens in the area. But I guess the thought of him sitting on a bench, just being drenched in rain was a bit sad.

    Josiet, True. I do believe in Karma.

    Daphne, I was just thinking what he'll do if he did hit a few birds. The whacking really shocked me.

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  12. hmmm, maybe he wanted to kill a bird for food? well at least, that's what they do in the philippines. mas shocking di ba?

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