[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”2/3″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]Last December I found myself walking up a street in downtown Portland, Oregon. I flexed and contracted my now-empty left hand as I blew on it. The heat from my breath was easy to pick out in the sub-freezing temperature. It was a stark contrast to how my right hand was feeling at that time.
I looked down at my hand and stared at the source of the warmth. It was a single egg McMuffin, purchased from McDonald’s just a couple of minutes earlier. I put the breakfast sandwich into my cold hand and allowed the warmth to fill it. This was much more effective than simply breathing into it. But if I was being honest with myself, the cold didn’t really bother me. I was too happy with myself to care about it. I wanted to get back to my car to enjoy the sandwich, but I also wanted to take a moment to bask in my hubris.
I looked up into the sky and took in the buildings on both sides of the street. They stretched up to the sky, and at that moment, I felt like I was taller than they were. I looked back down the street I’d come up and saw a woman, dressed in rags, sitting on a street corner.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/3″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][nectar_single_testimonial testimonial_style=”small_modern” color=”Default” quote=”If I was being honest with myself, the cold didn’t really bother me. I was too happy with myself to care about it.”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/4″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][nectar_single_testimonial testimonial_style=”small_modern” color=”Default” quote=”It’s warm, black coffee, and mass-production breakfast menu had lured in many a passerby into its clutches, like the sirens of Odysseus. “][/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”3/4″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]She was sitting in an ideal spot. It was the corner of SW Main Street and SW 6th Avenue. There were two high-volume crosswalks within an arm’s distance from where she was sitting. But the odd thing was, she wasn’t facing either of those crosswalks. Her back was actually facing the intersection.
So, if you were to stand behind the woman, and look in the direction she was looking, you would see two doors sitting below two familiar yellow arches.
There’s a reason the foot traffic at that particular intersection was so busy, especially on that cold morning. McDonald’s was like a beacon of hope and warmth to the masses. It’s warm, black coffee, and mass-production breakfast menu had lured in many a passerby into its clutches, like the sirens of Odysseus.
And that homeless woman was in the prime position to pull at the heartstrings of the chain restaurant’s now-warm patrons.
I looked back at my empty hand, and then I looked back at the woman as she opened a small package, a package that contained a single, freshly cooked Egg McMuffin … an Egg McMuffin I’d purchased several minutes prior to that moment.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”2/3″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]Before I’d given that woman one of my breakfast sandwiches, I too had been lured in by the curvy arches and the promises they made to me. Just 10 minutes prior, I’d left the old Gus Soloman Courthouse, after I’d finished up bankruptcy court for the morning. Looking at my watch, it was nearly 11 o’clock, and I hadn’t had a bite to eat.
Walking down the taller-than-average steps to the street below my stomach growled at me. I immediately pulled out my smartphone from my designer suit coat and began searching for a place I could pick up some cheap, warm grub. Various restaurants populated my map, but none of them felt “right.”
I wanted something from a dollar menu, and the only one I could think of was McDonald’s. Unfortunately, the map showed me that the nearest McDonalds was nearly a mile away. If I were to go there, I would either have to walk a half mile to my vehicle and drive a mile and a half, find parking and then finally get into McDonald’s, or I could walk the mile to the restaurant, order my food, and then walk a mile and a half to get to my car.
Neither sounded like a good choice to me, so I put my phone back in my pocket and walked, head down, to the bottom of the steps. I had consigned myself to the fact that I was just not going to eat until dinner that day. But, as I walked off the final step and looked across the street all the sadness washed away in a wave of panacea.
Somehow, against all odds, a McDonald’s had been placed on the other side of the street. It was providence, and crystal clear, that the man upstairs also wanted me to go to McDonald’s. Who was I to get in the way of divine intervention? I crossed the street and as I approached the chain restaurant, I found the sidewalk outside to be clear of people.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/3″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][nectar_single_testimonial testimonial_style=”small_modern” color=”Default” quote=”If I were to go there, I would either have to walk a half mile to my vehicle and drive a mile and a half, find parking and then finally get into McDonald’s, or I could walk the mile to the restaurant, order my food, and then walk a mile and a half to get to my car.”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/6″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”2/3″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]The inside of the McDonald’s was packed. There was a long line, and it gave me plenty of time to decide on my order: 2 Egg McMuffins. I had only planned on getting one, but I felt the urge to get a second one. I chalked it up to impulse … but hey, it was the dollar menu. I ordered and then left the store. My plan was to walk back to my car and enjoy the small meal before I drove back to the office.
But, as soon as I left the restaurant, a woman had just sat down. Her clothes were ragged and torn, her eyes were sullen, and her hands were caked in dirt and grime. I averted my eyes, since I didn’t have any cash or change on my person, and I wanted to avoid having to tell the woman the same.
But that didn’t stop her from asking the question I knew was coming. “Do you have any money you can part with?” I was so preoccupied with trying to avoid the woman I didn’t hear what she said. I looked into her eyes and was immediately sucked in. They were gray and they were piercing. I instantly felt pity, and before I know what I was doing, I had crouched down next to her and asked her what she’d said.
She repeated the phrase once more. “I don’t have any money on me,” I replied. But then a thought came to me. “Would you like a warm sandwich?” I wasn’t expecting an affirmative response since I was used to beggars refusing any gesture outside some coin. To my pleasant surprise, she assented. I gave her one of my McMuffins.
She said thanks, and then she pressed the warm package to her face. I said goodbye and then started towards my car.
Gripping the other McMuffin in my hand, I turned away from the woman opening her breakfast, content in the fact that I’d helped out one of God’s daughters, and also content in the fact that I still had one more sandwich to eat for breakfast.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/6″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/3″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][nectar_single_testimonial testimonial_style=”small_modern” color=”Default” quote=”I began to cross the street, and I simultaneously started unwrapping the McMuffin when I heard a sound. It was a sound I knew well.”][/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”2/3″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]I couldn’t contain the pleasure I had with my own actions. It was as if God had inspired me to get that extra McMuffin because he knew that woman needed something warm to eat.
There was a little bit of a hop in my step and I practically ran up the steps next to the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. At the top of the steps, my stomach growled again and I stopped and looked at my McMuffin. Then I looked up the sidewalk. I could see my vehicle parked up in the distance. I quickly debated whether or not I should eat the sandwich right there, or wait until I got to my car.
The answer came nearly immediately.
I began to cross the street, and I simultaneously started unwrapping the McMuffin when I heard a sound. It was a sound I knew well. It was the creaking sound that accompanied a very specific type of pushcart that the homeless in Portland fancy. Looking to the right, across the street, head down, was another homeless person. This one was a man, and he was going to the same spot I was heading.
Like before, I averted my eyes. This time, however, it was for a completely different reason. I picked up the pace, and as I quickly put my Egg McMuffin into my jacket pocket, I quietly prayed, if you could call it a prayer, that the man wouldn’t look up. You see, I didn’t want to part with my breakfast, and I knew if that man asked me for money, I would have offered him my other sandwich, and then I wouldn’t have eaten until dinner.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/6″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”2/3″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]I didn’t look back until I got into my car. I couldn’t see the man anywhere, and I breathed a sigh of relief, and a sigh of regret. As I opened my sandwich and began eating, I had the urge to go out and find the man. It probably wouldn’t be that hard to locate him. But then my stomach growled again.
As I finished the Egg McMuffin, I realized that I was a generous person, but Lord help the person that comes along after I was charitable once that day.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/6″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][/vc_column][/vc_row]