Today I was walking back from my coffee at Starbucks and an older, somewhat disheveled and heavyset man with a cane stopped me and asked for help. He wore dirty, ratty clothes and was unshaven. He was shuffling along and could barely walk. He told me he was trying to get down the street about a block and was wondering if I would offer an arm to steady him and help him along. At first I replied that I was sorry and couldn’t really help as I was on my way somewhere and after all my hands were full with my cell phone and the book I was reading. He very politely insisted and again said that he was just going down a few houses. It was one of those random situations that is sufficiently weird and strange that I had to stop and reconsider. You know those bizarre moments when you have to stop and look around to see if anybody else can see him. To make sure he really did exist and that it wasn’t just something in my imagination. Like one of those scenes in a movie where the person sees this old bum walking and it turns out to be an angel or God testing him. It was one of those moments and so I paused for a second and then put my arm out and started guiding him down the sidewalk. His name was John. He began to explain that he was 67 and that his condition was something with his feet called soft tissue and it was very painful to walk. As we shuffled along I realized that his words were very pronounced and articulate, speaking like a professor would speak. He asked me what I did for a living and I told him I worked for myself doing web design and photography. He thought that was great and remarked how it takes a special person to be disciplined enough to make that work. We continued along as he talked more about life and success and he chuckled and said how he probably sounded like a cranky old man complaining to me. He said, “it used to be success wasn’t enough. You had to bloom and be great. Today, just surviving is success and you’re lucky to have that.”

He was right and it made sense to me. I spend a lot of time just surviving. Sure I could walk better then him but it made me wonder who really needed whose arm to lean on.

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