Published in IJCP March 2022
Inspirational Story
A Great Story
March 10, 2022 | ijcp
     


A woman clad in the best of clothes walked up to a man sitting on the ground. “Good morning,” she politely greeted him. The man slowly looked up. He thought that she wanted to make fun of him, like many others and just asked her to leave him alone.

The woman continued standing and asked the man if he was hungry. The man sarcastically said ‘No’. He said that he had just had a meal with the President. Furious, he told her to go away. The woman smiled and held him from his arm to help him get up. The man resisted.

Just then a policeman came up and asked the lady if there was a problem. She asked the officer to help her get the man to his feet.

The officer wondered what business she had with him. The woman told the officer that she wished to get the man some food at the cafeteria nearby.

The homeless man resisted. But by then, he was brought to his feet by the officer.

The woman and the police officer got the homeless man into the cafeteria and sat him at a table in a corner. It was the middle of the morning, so most of the breakfast crowd had already left and there was still time for lunch.

The manager came to the table and asked the officer what was going on. The officer told him that the lady had brought this man in to be fed.

The manager replied angrily that it was not possible in that cafeteria. The homeless man smiled and told the lady that he knew this would happen. He got up and wished to leave.

The woman turned to the cafeteria manager, smiled and asked him if he was familiar with Eddy and Associates, the banking firm.

The manager said that he was. He told her that they hosted their weekly meetings in one of their banquet rooms. The woman went on to ask that they must be making a huge amount of money providing food at these weekly meetings. The manager was curious by now.

She went on to tell him that she was the President and CEO of the company. The manager was taken aback.

The woman smiled again. The officer was also giggling by now.

The woman offered the officer a cup of coffee. He gladly agreed. The cafeteria manager rushed to get his coffee.

The woman sat down at the table across from her guest. She stared at him and asked him if he remembered her. He looked closely at her and said that she looked familiar.

She said that she was a little older now from when she last met him when he worked at the same cafeteria. She told him that she came through that very door, cold and hungry on day.

She had come to the city looking for a job, but couldn’t find anything. She was completely out of money and had been kicked out of her apartment. It was very cold and she was nearly starving. That’s when she had walked into the cafeteria to try her luck and see if she could get something to eat.

The homeless man lit up with a smile. He recognized the woman. He remembered that she had come once and asked him if she could work for something to eat. The woman then said that he made her the biggest roast beef sandwich that she had ever seen, gave her a cup of coffee, and told her to go over to a corner table and enjoy it. She saw him put the price of her food in the cash register.

She went on to tell them that she got a job that very afternoon and worked her way up. She opened her purse, pulled out a business card and gave it to the homeless man. She told him to visit the personnel director of her company.

There were tears in the old man’s eyes. He said that he could never thank her enough. She told him to thank God, because He led her to him.

As they walked out the cafeteria, the officer told the lady that he had seen a miracle, something that he will never forget.

God closes doors no man can open and opens doors no man can close.