I came in to work this morning (which happens to be a workstation at a FedEx Kinkos, at least for a couple hours or so until I move on to a cafe) and there was only one other person at one of the workstations.
I had seen this person before, but I am still not quite sure where. I think he was on the side of the road. His dress, his hair, and the bag of belongings he was carrying make it pretty obvious that he is a transient/homeless individual.
I am guessing that he was in here checking an email account or something like that. You never know what the background of people in this situation is. It is entirely possible that he had a full-blown tech job at one point and only has one gmail account left from those days. Maybe that is how he keeps in touch with a grown child that lives far away. Maybe he is job hunting.
Whatever his situation is or was, it is good to remember that our situation, whatever it may be, is a gift from God. We really don’t have much control. We could just as easily end up in a situation similar to the guy I saw this morning in FedEx Kinkos.
Also, as the title of this post suggests, when you are in a position to do something to help someone in that situation, make sure that you do. I don’t mean throw money at the person on the corner who is asking for it (not necessarily). In all likelihood, doing so is only providing the means to go to the convenience store and buy alcohol later in the day. That does that person absolutely no good. There are more ways than financial to invest in someone else’s life, and the financial isn’t even the most important way.