As we pulled into the Oceanside In-n-Out on Friday I noticed a man sitting on a rock near the driveway entrance. He had his dog with him, A bowl of water was on the ground. He was holding a sign, but I didn’t catch what it said.
I parked and walked across the parking lot, dodging all the cars coming and going. In-n-Out is always busy.
As I approached the man, he jumped when I called out, “Sir! Do you need lunch?” It was like he was startled that someone had spoken to him, that someone had noticed him.
He told me that he didn’t need lunch because someone else had bought him lunch already. I asked if he was sure. He told me that what he really needed was dog food. He was really worried about his dog. He started talking more, as if he hadn’t had a conversation recently and started unloading his heart. He told me that on Thursday he’d had an interview in Temecula for a job as a cement truck driver. The company had called him back to tell him he was hired if he passed his physical. His head hung when he said that he didn’t know how he’d get back to Temecula on Monday for the physical because he didn’t have money.
I asked him how he got to the interview and he pointed to his black Mazda. The back seat and trunk were stuffed with bags and suitcases and a surfboard was tied to the top. “I just don’t have any money for gas. I am down to 12 miles in my tank.”
“I’ll pay for your gas.”
His head snapped up.
“Really? You’d do that for me? Are you sure?”
“I would. I’ll pay for your gas.”
He had tears in his eyes as we agreed which gas station to meet at. As he was pumping he told me that he never should have come down here. He was offered a job to lay bricks at a winery in Temecula, but because of the second wave of Covid last summer his start date kept getting pushed back further. He told me he had come from Oregon to Southern California with $22,000 in his bank account, but had spent it all on food and shelter while he waited for that job to finally start. But it never did.
“I cry every time I pick up that sign. I am 56 years old and nothing like this has ever happened to me before. I am so embarrassed. Thanks for seeing me and helping me today. This is so hard and I don’t know what to do. Gas is $6.12 a gallon. I can’t even buy food for my dog.”
It’s the next morning as I write this, and I can’t stop thinking about it. I should have asked what his name was and I prayed this morning he would get that job in Temecula.
There are so many people like him in this situation. There is no easy solution and no one knows what to do, so they argue about it. They get angry and defensive. They point fingers about who is to blame.
Everyone deserves to be seen. To be able to tell their story. To have someone listen to their story.
I can’t help everyone. But I can certainly help someone. I can make a small difference by serving just one person.
I wonder what would happen if we all put it on our hearts to make a small difference for someone each week.
I wonder.
Thanks for letting me share my heart this week. We are road tripping for the next few weeks. I may share a little bit from the road, but I haven’t decided yet! But I promise that I’ll be back in your inbox on August 16th. If you enjoyed this email, you’d be doing me a favor by forwarding it to someone else who might like it.