Stories are outlets for our imaginations; some people write them while some read them. In both cases, we are pulled into the story and live it virtually. If we don’t, we put the book down or stop writing, as it isn’t interesting enough to hold our attention. An interesting story for one person isn’t necessarily interesting for another however; this is why there are some many different genres to chose from, the same holds true for music.

Our imagination is fueled sometimes by real events, things we see, hear, and read as well as a combination of all of these things. Even a story read or told to us whether it is a true event or fiction can help create a thought that builds into another story, some that are shared and others that fade away because we didn’t write them down to use later or to share them with someone.

All of this is leading to something that happened to me personally, I was walking to the store from work to pick up a couple of small items to take home. I was passing by a one of the many channels of water in South Florida. This one like many of them have fences to keep people from falling in or trespassing. I saw a movement and turned to see a man who looked in his early to mid thirties walking toward me. He stopped short of the side walk and asked me if I could help him, he said he has lost his job and had to move out of his apartment and now he had nothing, no food and very little with him as far as belongings. He was wearing decent looking clothes, he was clean however he did have a slight look of being lost with no direction on what he could do or where he should go. With me, he was looking for food and water to drink and though I was going to the store, I had no cash on me only my debit card. So like many people, I told him I had nothing and I couldn’t help him. Walking on past he came to the sidewalk and called after me, “I will work for you, I will put in 40 hours doing what you want me to do I just need to be able to eat.” I apologized to him and walked on.

There are many people that have seen the homeless or at least some of those that hold up a sign asking for help, usually for money or food. You see them standing in intersections of busy streets, especially during rush hour. You know that some are homeless, lost their jobs and maybe in some cases their unemployment has run out. Then you also see the ones that have collected a few dollars and run to the little convenience store and purchase a large beer or a bottle of cheap wine. All of this turns many people off and they avoid them. Some must give them a few dollars at some point as they keep doing the same thing day after day.

This was not the case of the young man, there wasn’t a busy street, it was the start of rush hour and he could have been at the corner like a lot of others asking for spare change to a captive audience while they’re stopped at a red light. No this person as I said looked lost with no direction, he walked back to the area where he came out of and I walked on to the store.

As I walked, I was convincing myself that he would be fine and I could go on my way without worrying about someone I didn’t know. The problem was, it was Friday evening and I worried he may not have any place to go or anything to eat. When I went into the store, I picked up what I needed to take home and then requested cash back. I walked back to where I saw him and he was lying down on his jacket. I called him over and asked him where he was staying. He turned and looked at the few belongings that he had and said nothing then looked down at the ground. I handed him a few dollars and told him to go to the store or one of the fast food restaurants and get something to eat, don’t spend it all as he needed to keep it for breakfast. I told him where he could go to find help, a place to spend the night especially as the nights here have been in the low 50’s. What I did wasn’t much, however he didn’t spend the night on the ground and he had something to eat. I may never find out what happened to him or where he goes from here however, I hope that what I did helped. We can’t always help everyone as individuals however; we can help many if we all work together. There are many people, families, and children that with a little help they can possibly have the opportunity to be able to help themselves, which is what all of us, want.

I would like to be able to give a lot more to help those that need it. I can’t give it all away or I would be in the same position, as those needed help. What I can do and will do is from this point on; I will donate 10% of my income from the sales of Losing Face, both the paperback and the Kindle to a shelter and food bank. It might not be a lot however it is a start.