Sunday, November 9, 2008

A First Time for Everything

This morning I was given this book by a homeless man who was digging through our dumpsters.


We had a nice conversation, discussed some Phoenix history, and he informed me of the best dumpsters in the area, such as the motherload of book dumpsters just a few blocks from our house. His advice? "Head over there, get some books, and start building a library." If he only knew. As we parted I asked him his name, and he just mumbled "I'm only a bum." But he stopped to riffle through his well organized shopping cart, reaching to the depths of the basket to extract the above book. He handed it to me in a way that said, "if you were smart, you'd get over there right now, and this book is proof that you are missing out on your calling in life."

All my paradigms for homeless people continue to be blown away here in Phoenix. I can honestly say this is the first time I've ever been given anything by a homeless person.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow. That's nuts!

John and Pam Majors said...

That is amazing, John! Who would have thought? So what else did you find at the book dumpster? Was he there when you went?

John C. Majors said...

as tempting as digging through a dumpster full of books sounds, I have not yet done so. The book i was given was from his personal stash, previously retrieved from the dumpster.