This post will be the first of two possibilities exploring how just one action made by a person can have a knock on effect to the rest of said person's day.
Saturday morning, I got up being awoken not by an alarm but by a dog wanting to be walked. It's Saturday, it was 7am, shouldn't I have a lie in at least until 8 o'clock? Never mind. My dog Rocky insisted we went for a walk right away, very important in the dog world. I got up, threw on my dog walking gear (pair of old jeans and a hoodie) and headed out. We didn't go too far just far enough to stretch Rocky's legs until the bigger walk later. I live only down the road from an outdoor shopping precinct so I usually take him on there for a run, it's quiet enough so we can walk on the car park without worrying about cars going back and too.
We approached the car park and I looked around just to be sure there were no cars when a dark figure caught my eye. It was just under one of the shop's signs, as we got closer I released it was a man wrapped up in a duvet with a dog right beside him under his own blanket. I felt sorry for this person and of course his faithful pet. The dog lifted his head having a good look at us, probably making sure we weren't going to harm his owner. Rocky and I carried on past this homeless person and went to play fetch for a little while until we decided to head back home for breakfast.
I couldn't stop thinking about the person under the blanket and how cold they must have been. It was mid January hardly shorts and t-shirt weather. Coming to think about it they didn't seem to move at all, I couldn't stop myself from wondering if he was still alive. I know there are thousands of homeless people dotted around everywhere and I have certainly passed a few in my years but this one seemed to stick in my head, I couldn't help but think how if I'd have spared some change he might get a drink and some food and potentially stay alive another day. I found an old flask that I didn't really need and filled it with nice hot tea and put a bit of Rocky's dog food in a bag and got some spare change together to go and take to the person later on that day.
I went back to the shopping precinct on my way to work about 1pm so the car park was so busy by this point. I found a space and walked to the homeless guy. I approached him and the dog cautiously and handed him the flask, dog food and the couple of pound I scraped together. He seemed reluctant to take it and kept saying ''it's yours'', needless to say I insisted and he took it. He was so grateful. I found the whole thing so uplifting, this guy had literally nothing but the love of his dog and he made sure I was 100% sure I wanted to part with these couple of things. I patted the dog on the head then shot off to work. I went the wrong way to work, I forgot about road works and ended up getting stuck in traffic but even so I couldn't help but smile and when I finally got to work I was in such a good mood going in, because even though yes my job is dull and boring, I felt like I'd really helped someone today and achieved something. Customers can tell when you're in a good mood as they seem to chat to you more etc.
I got home after the 4 hour shift, took Rocky for his long walk then settled down for the night watching films. Every time I thought back to the day's events I felt happy and pleased and I hoped the homeless guy found a shelter that could take him in.
The next post is the flip side of this same story. Check it out!
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