Stories of Kindness from Around the World

An Unexpected Conversation

I was hungry, so I took my 8-year-old Shih Tzu, "Jack," on a walk to my favorite café, about a quarter-mile from my home. They have a nice outside patio area which, in the late afternoon, is usually vacant. I ordered a burger and iced tea and went outside to await my order.

While waiting for my meal, a homeless man on a bicycle stopped to ask if there was a grocery store in the neighborhood. After I gave him directions, he asked if I had graduated from Santa Clara University. (I was wearing a SCU t-shirt.) I told him that, yes, I graduated some time ago. Little did I know that this simple response would lead to a 90-minute conversation.

The man, Michael, told me he was 50 years old. He was intelligent. Very intelligent. Unfortunately, drug use had derailed both his formal education and his pursuit of success in the world of work. He drifted from one topic to another, ignoring the fact that my lunch had been brought to me. He clearly had more of a need to talk than I did. I made every effort to give him my full attention, never expecting that our conversation would go on and on and on……

Eventually, I did eat my meal, bite by bite between responses in our conversation. Michael was a bit "out there" in terms of his interests and viewpoints. We had little in common, but he was fascinated with conversing with, as he put it, "intelligent people." I consider myself fairly well-educated, but I don't think of myself as being overly intelligent. Rather, my "gift" is common sense.

I have to admit, I wish our conversation had been limited to ten or fifteen minutes, but when Michael finally rode off on his bike, he thanked me for listening so attentively to him and for my willingness to talk with him for so long. It was then that I realized that, just maybe, that was my purpose in life for today -- to be there, in that place, at that time, to engage in that conversation.