To feel a skip

I decided to take a friends advice about going out for a walk and do some people watching.
I figured that Jasper ave. would be the best place to go, considering I do not want to sit inside anywhere today. I found myself cruising down jasper and before long I realized I had walked quite a distance from my home. I came across a small park with a bench placed just off from the sidewalk. Seemed to be a good as place as any to just sit and relax a bit.
I noticed across the way, a man sat with his legs crossed and huddled in close as to appear like he was feeling very cold. Although it was crisp, it was pleasant outside today. His clothes were shabby and torn, His shoes were almost worn through in front of his soles. He was mainly clean in appearance though.(like he does shower when he can) I wondered for a bit about all of the miles this man had travelled in those shoes and what had led up to the present. I realized pretty quickly that he was asking passers for a little change to buy a coffee or a little something to eat. People walked past him ignoring his simple yet seemingly well thought out requests. No one even bothered to show him the respect of just saying no. I noticed that some pairs or groups of people who were in conversation, walking towards him, would get really quiet as they passed and not even look at him. Seemed almost as if they got nervous with his presence. As they got a little ways past him, pretty much every one of them would glance back to get a look at him. It seemed like they would look at him like he belonged in the zoo. Maybe just the fact that this kind of thing can happen to any parents children has instilled a fear in some. I have heard some say that they work for a living and these types of people are lazy. I can not understand what would have happened to a man that has resorted to sitting, in the month of January on the sidewalk. He was not born into this lifestyle and at one time was a child to his parents. I thought of the comment of him being lazy and looked him over with a little more concern to the comment. I saw him as being somewhat healthy, with all of his body attached together. Lazy? I don't know. It takes a certain something physical to be doing what he is doing now. Maybe it is not the fact of being physically able to work. I thought about him being ill in the mind. Not crazy, but depressed about himself so much, that he had given up in a sense, only to come to the necessity of asking for change. It is hard to imagine the cards one is dealt in their life. As I think of my own life and where I am in life these days, I think of the decisions I have made. How would I have faired in this world today if I had done the opposite of the decisions that I have made. It surely cannot be any mans fate or destiny to live in the streets and feel like they do not have the ability to feed themselves. Just as he pulls his baseball cap a little more down to the front of his face, (as if to give up hope in his mission to feed himself) a person approaches him with a shopping cart full of bottles and cans. This cart looked like that Ikea commercial with all the stuff piled on top of the roof. It was stacked with considerable skill. I couldn't quite catch exactly what he said to the guy sitting down on the sidewalk, but he stopped and appeared to offer him a small blanket that he had been wearing like a scarf around his shoulders. wow, I thought, this was an interesting gesture of kindness. It shocked me to realize how such a simple gesture like this came from someones heart and could mean so much. He looked happy to except it and stood up and shook his hand. The guy with the cart reached into his pocket and gave him 5 bucks. The other man kinda looked shocked himself. The cart guy gave him a light pat on the shoulder and continued down the street. It was humorous to watch as he left, he did a little skip and smiled on his way. I think for him to maybe understand what may be happening here with this man, he was able to look in this mans eyes and think of him as a human being. The guy took his new fortune and went directly inside the coffee shop. A quick minute went by and he came out and sat on his blanket with a sandwich in hand. I watched this guy eat that thing like it was going to be his last. Savouring every bite that he took. He placed half of it down as if to save it, but that lasted all of 1 minute. After my discussion with another person who sat next to me, I figured I should get on home and do some cleaning up. (the conversation with this person is a story on its own, but will have to wait for now) I went over to the coffee shop and convinced the manager to sell me some free coffee cards all stamped up so I could give em to this guy outside. He was happy to oblige and said he too gives him a free coffee every morning, and that he thinks he is a pleasant guy just down on his luck.
I felt I wanted to give him this, not just for him, but for myself. I felt like popping in a little skip myself. I was very pleased to look at this man and speak to him as others would not. It was not the gift, it was being wise to myself respecting him as a man...A human being.