Angels come in all sizes

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I was walking up the mall in my lunch break yesterday when I saw a gentleman obviously down on his luck. He looks dishevelled, tired and hungry. I decide to buy him lunch (I rarely give money but like to help where I can).

I’m three quarters of the way over to him when suddenly someone else intervenes.

A small girl - about six or seven I guess - is standing next to the guy holding out a Hungry Jack’s (Burger King) burger. It has a small bite out of it.

The guy pauses as do I. He seems to not know what to do. The little girl pushes it at him and says “Here - you need it more than I do.”

He’s virtually forced to take it.

As he does a loud voice booms “Stephanie!!!” and a well-dressed middle-aged woman flounces over and drags the pint-sized angel away. The lecture starts before they’re out of earshot.

Even still, Stephanie manages to look over her shoulder and smile at the man.
The man smiles back but he seems on the verge of tears.

Thank you Stephanie. I hope your mother never nags that kindness out of you.

Angels DO come in all sizes.

2

:)Thanks. I needed that.

3

All angels start out that size, some just forget where they started.

4

It made my day to hear that. It’s enspiring. :slight_smile:

5

Thanks, dpr.

Sometimes the simplest of thoughts can cut right through very complex problems and reach right into the heart.

Jim

6

Sometimes it’s a GOOD thing that these kids will be running the world someday…hopefully her spirit is strong enough that her mother doesn’t bring her down…maybe her mom was just worried cuz her little angel wondered off and she knew just how important and pure Stephanie is…

7

That’s incredibly touching. I mean that in full seriousness, that’s amazing. Good on the kid.

But, let’s not lynch the mother here, folks. I do a little thought experiment and imagine that I’m the parent of a small child. Said child gets out of my attention zone–easy to imagine, I vaguely remember being a small child. I don’t think they’re all too different today, and I was a sneaky little bastard. (Still am, really. Sometimes I notice that most people always seem to walk, well, heavier than I do, even if they’re lighter than I am. Stomp stomp stomp. Conversely, I’m frequently startling people unintentionally from walking, rapidly, from up behind them and passing–always did walk fast. Sneaky bastards and bystyrds of the world, unite!)

So, I think. Small child. My small child, and…right now we’re in public, and I don’t know where she is.

Now, I’m not a parent, but hypothetically speaking, I think I’d be feeling a mounting sense of worry. And to put it lightly, I don’t think that then seeing and thinking, “Oh. There she is. Some distance over there, talking to the strange disheveled man,” would be even remotely helpful to put that worry at rest. In fact, I think it would probably cause an immediate dump of all available adrenaline into my bloodstream.

Am I wrong here, moms and dads? I’m just guessing.

Of course, if the lecture began with, “Stephanie, I’ve told you time and time again that bums are stinking subhuman monsters whose veins don’t pump blood like yours or mine, but a thick viscous substance that’s the physical liquid manifestation of evil!” my opinion would change radically.

8

I know what you’re saying ** drastic ** and while the motivation would indeed be at least partly borne from that worry, the lecture was sadly far more of the latter than the former.
It’s two days later and I’m still getting warm fuzzies thinking of this amazing little girl. Helps thoughts of the future don’t you think?

9

How wonderful, dpr! Thanks for sharing. Children can be amazingly kind. Yesterday my daughter paid a compliment to an adult, and I couldn’t believe how she fell all over herself thanking her. I told my daughter she appreciated her kindness and she just said, “well, it’s true!” :slight_smile: I like that girl.

10

Thanks Stephanie.

…and thank you dpr

11

Drastic, you made a good point. And also I’d like to add something.

Wanting to help others is wonderful, and giving someone food instead of cash is always a good idea.

But.

“You need it more than I do.” Not the best choice of words.

When I was that girl’s age, maybe a little older, my mom explained to me how important it is for the right hand not to know what the left hand does. You give for the sake of giving, not to get credit for it.

She would have been okay with my giving someone my burger, but if she’d heard me say “You need it more than I do,” she would have ripped me a new one for being patronizing and pious. She would have said, “That’s great: you just undid whatever good you did by giving him food. You probably made him feel an inch tall. Did you do that for him, or for you, to show what a perfect little angel you are?”

12

This is SO true, honey.

Angels not only come in all sizes, they come in various shapes, colors, genders, species and so forth. And I should know, since I have been supported by at least one of each during various times in my life.

Oh, and by the way…one of my favorite angels comes in dpr size!

:slight_smile:

13

The way I see it, saying, “You need it more than I do” is being humble. If someone said, “I need it more than you do.” then it would seem like they’re tooting their own horn but the other way it seems like saying “It’s not much…”
Besides, I doubt the child had herself in mind.

14

Thank you so much, dpr. And sweet little Stephanie. Angels do indeed come in all sizes and shapes, and you never know where you might come across one.
As to the rest: I’m a mom of two, and yes, my first instinct would be to worry and get my child away from a stranger. Not because of his attire, I’d like to believe; but because that person is an unknown. That said, while walking away with my child I would be sure and tell my child how very proud I am of them for doing that.

In fact, I have had occasion to do that, once with each of my children in fact. I’d almost forgotten that till I read your story, dpr. Thank you, for reminding me what great young people I have. proud momma smile

{{{{{{dpr}}}}}}
{{{{{{Stephanie}}}}}}
{{{{{{Steph’s mom}}}}}}
{{{{{{stranger down on his luck}}}}}}
{{{{{{group hug}}}}}}