One Act of Randome Kindness Can Change A Life

One Act of Random Kindness Can Change A Life

Selflessness is a quality of life that many lack. We brand people of a different race or that come from a different background. Homeless people have it harder than most. People witness a homeless man or women with a sign asking for money or a job and look at them in disgust and label them as alcoholics or drug addicts.

My father works for a company called Crisis Assistance Ministry. This organization helps the homeless and people in a financially difficult situation get the help they need. My father would come home and tell my mom and me about the many different people he met and the stories of struggle and heartbreak he was told. I remember one event in particular that changed the way I look at people.

My dad was working in the store, a place where people can pick out clothes and home decorations free of charge, when a very tall African-American male walked in. The man walked up to my dad and asked him if a backpack had come in. My dad went and found one for him and he was very grateful and thanked my dad. This man came back one evening and approached my father. He began by telling him that he was a painter and had many finished works he was trying to sell. The man went on to tell my father that someone had stolen all of his belongings including his clothes, painting equipment, and even his paintings.

You could see that more than anything, the fact that he wasn’t going to be able to paint was horrifying to him because for this man painting was his life. He asked my dad if he had another backpack he could have and my dad went and found one for him. My father then remembered that a beautiful paint and drawing set had been donated a few weeks back. He told my mom and me that for those few seconds he looked at it, he considered keeping it, but deep down he new that it would do more good being used by the homeless man than by him. So he gave the paint set to the man along with the backpack. The man whose name he did not know reached out and hugged him and my dad knew that what he had done would make a difference.

This wasn’t the end however; my dad then told us that the man had come back just to talk to him. He didn’t need any clothes or any more help. He told my father that because of what he had done he was able to paint more, and was able to put them in a gallery uptown. I got to go to work with my father many times and each time I had the privilege to listen to a different story. These stories have changed my opinion about homeless people, and I have learned a lot watching my father help people. So what do I believe, I believe that one random act of kindness can change a persons life. I now look at the homeless men and women not as poor and lonely people, but as a life that can be changed.