I Bought Shawarma and Coffee for a Homeless Man – He Gave Me a Note That Changed Everything

Woman in her late 30s tightening her winter coat on the street | Source: Midjourney

On my way to the bus, I saw the shawarma stand that had been there almost as long as I’d worked in the store. It was between a closed flower shop and a dim convenience store.

Steam rose from the grill’s metal surface into the warm air. The scent of roasted meat and spices almost made me stop for one. But I didn’t particularly like the vendor. He was a stocky man with permanent frown lines.

The food was good, and you could get your shawarma in two seconds, but I wasn’t in the mood for any grumpiness today.

A shawarma stand with a vendor working on a cold snowy windy day | Source: Midjourney

But I still stopped when I saw a homeless man and his dog walking up to the stand. The man, who was around 55 years old, looked cold and definitely hungry as he stared at the rotating meat.

The man wore a thin coat, and the poor puppy lacked fur. My heart broke for them.

“You gonna order something or just stand there?” the vendor’s sharp voice startled me.

I watched the homeless man gather his courage. “Sir, please. Just some hot water?” he asked, his shoulders hunched.

Homeless man with a dog in front of a shawarma stand on a snowy day | Source: Midjourney

Sadly, I knew the vendor’s response before he even said it. “GET OUT OF HERE! This ain’t no charity!” he barked.

As the dog pressed closer to its owner, I saw the man’s shoulders slump. That’s when my grandmother’s face flashed in my mind.

She’d raised me on stories about her harsh childhood and told me that a single act of kindness had saved her family from starvation. I’d never forgotten that lesson, and although I couldn’t always help, her words came to mind:

“Kindness costs nothing but can change everything.”

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