Every morning he maintained a routine of many years on the car journey from his home to the workplace. With exceptions, as a result of trips somewhere, the itinerary was practically the same and the colors of the sky, the sounds, the stops at traffic lights or the possible traffic jams were already enormously familiar to his brain.
In one of these potential traffic interruptions, caused by a traffic light, a man had been placed as the perennial protagonist of the place. Indigent, beggar are some of the nicknames used to refer to this type of people of whom almost everything is unknown, one of them is removed due to embarrassment or because of one of those clichés that in large cities are held before homeless people.
A man who intuitively exceeded fifty years of age, he dressed in borrowed and dirty clothes and hardly made a sound. Communication with him, through the car window, up, of course, and with the security devices in operation for what might happen, was limited to a nod of the head at his gestural request for some kind of alms.
It was part of the routine of the journey. The image was repeated day after day, as long as the red color of the traffic light coincided and both mechanically made the same gestures.
One day, when the traffic light was in that color, the driver who once again denied the possible gift, landed on a young couple who on the left side of the vehicle were crossing through the space dedicated to passers-by. She was casually wearing clothes that showed the temperature border that was precisely taking place in the city that day. Some call it the costume attire because it combines outfits typical of one season with others of the immediately following season. He, however, wore a suit and tie, well matched.
But, what caught the driver’s attention was not his clothes, but that they were both carrying something in their hands that made him stop and think: why are they wearing it?
Let’s look at the geographical context. The traffic light is located in a university area, open and with wide extensions. She was carrying something wrapped in paper and a glass and he was carrying another glass, something bigger. “If it were both of them’s breakfast, how strange that they wouldn’t have it in a cafeteria of the different faculties existing in the place,” thought the driver for a few seconds.
But, while he was making cabals, reality overcame his thinking. The couple overcame the parked cars waiting for the change of traffic light color, approached the homeless man/beggar, and after a very pleasant smile from her and a few words, they gave her that something wrapped in paper and two glasses, which all together made up a breakfast, consisting of food and drink.
They followed the natural course of the pedestrian path, according to the direction they were going. He moved a little away from the sidewalk and sat down to taste what he had just been given.
The most beautiful thing about this whole story is that it is real. This very morning. It is as hot as the drink that has been left for our protagonist, the two anonymous heroes.
In the face of the almost daily refusal, the freshness of the positive attitude illuminates and stimulates those who are not able to do so.