Casey Fischer was getting her daily coffee from Dunkin Donuts near her college campus when she noticed a homeless guy nearby. He was sitting by the side of the road, collecting up any spare coin that others had dropped, she noted. Then he walked inside the coffee shop, unaware that he had grabbed her sight.
Casey chose to approach the homeless guy, whom she later learned was named Chris, as he counted his coins. Little did the young college kid know that her meeting with the stranger would affect both of their lives.
She was pretty irritating and kept talking to him even though he didn’t really want to chat, Casey recounted. Since he had maybe $1 in change, she got him a coffee and a bagel and asked him to sit down with her, she went on, detailing the moment she chose to bless the stranger with some warm food and a little company because he looked to be in need.
Casey put her own ambitions aside for a time and sat down next to this lonely man in need. As Chris joined Casey and the two got to know one another a bit better over the tiny breakfast she had sweetly made, the effort seemed well-received. The stranger even started to open up, telling his life narrative and acknowledging his faults that had put him in this situation.
He told her a lot about how individuals are generally very mean to him since he’s homeless, how drugs turned him into the individual he hated, he lost his mom to cancer, he never met his dad, and he just wants to be an individual his mom would be proud of, Casey wrote in a Facebook post, detailing her talk with the “wonderful” man named Chris.
today I went to Dunkin and saw a clearly homeless guy singing on the side of the road and picking up change. Eventually…
Posted by Casey Fischer on Wednesday, 20 May 2015
Chris was one of the most honest and true guys she’ve ever encountered, Casey went on, but their time together was coming to an end. Casey was going to receive something in return for showering the gentleman with food and giving him some time and consideration. Chris planned on thanking her in a way she’d never forget.
When Chris realized she needed to get back to class, he begged her to wait so he could jot something down for her, Casey remembered. Handing her a crumpled-up receipt, he apologized for his poor handwriting, smiled, and went, she said, accompanying a snapshot of the wadded-up note her new buddy had given her.
Although Chris appeared to have opened up about his situation, Casey immediately recognized there was something he didn’t want to disclose until the two were about to split ways. Even then, he couldn’t say it out loud. Rather, he had scribbled it on the crumpled paper she had opened after they had said their goodbyes.
He intended to kill himself today, because of her he now do not. Thank you, lovely lady, the message said. Although Casey was taken aback by the remarks, she was grateful that her small act of compassion had saved a life. With her heart full, Casey turned to social media to share the event, where even more lives were transformed, courtesy to a complete stranger and a gesture as simple as coffee and a bagel.
The moving story was shared hundreds of thousands of times, touching the lives of individuals from all over the world. It reminded us that we never understand what someone else is going through or how close they are to giving up. More significantly, it demonstrated how a little mercy and compassion may give someone else a cause to live.
Chris had given up on life, believing he had no one and no purpose to live, until Casey Fischer gave him the kindness he so needed badly, distracting him from death all since she was in the right place at the right time and determined to improve someone else’s day. Chris’s life may have ended if their paths had not met or if Casey had chosen to overlook the desperate guy in front of her.
Consider the difference that each of us can make by keeping our eyes and hearts open to the needs of others if a few times and a simple deed may completely change the direction of someone’s life. Eye contact and a smile, or, in this example, a cup of coffee and a discussion, could occasionally be the solution to someone else’s prayers. Never underestimate the impact of a tiny act of charity. After all, a $3 cup of coffee was all that was required to save one man’s life.
