A Cup of Compassion

Today I was laid off from my first salary job. As I returned home today, I stopped by a bakery. As I entered the shop the boy behind the counter asked me what I was in the mood for. I openly shared my misery as to why I sought out their sugary sweets. "Hmm, I'm in the mood to have whatever tastes good to someone who was just laid off." Everyone in the shop heard me and muttered their condolences. I felt a bit selfish admitting to my self misery, but I gave myself a rule to only have this self pity behavior for the next 24 hour--nothing more, nothing less.

Standing next to me was a young girl about half my height. She immediately told me she was sorry and asked if she could give me a hug. I nodded my head yes. She immediately wrapped her arms around me. As my eyes grew swollen, I tried to hold back my tears. I softly thanked her for her kindness. She told me after I had finished my purchase to come across the street and she would give me a free glass of lemonade.

After squandering $10 on a select number of vegan sweets. I head out to my car--As I glance across the street, I see the girl and a young boy stationed outside of what appeared to be an office building. The bakery was located in a rundown segment of downtown. Locking up my car, I decide to head across the street for my free glass of lemonade.

The girl was happy to see me again, she immediately asked me what lemonade I wanted. As her punch stained fingers filled up my plastic Subway cup she had handed me, my curiosity wondered as to why they were selling the lemonade. I asked her my question, she said they wanted to start a babysitting service and then use their money to save for college. The girl nicknamed, Phoebe explained to me how she wanted to be a biologist and her friend boasted with a smile as he said he wanted to be a game designer.

She elaborated on the money they had made the following days, $32 total. "We have issues, so we need to start saving," she said. I asked her what issues she had, she explained her and her friend both suffered from a variety of mental issues and that she had multiple personalities. "My dad took all of our money and left," she said. The office building, was actually their home--government assisted housing.

"We want to save our money to help increase our chances of being able to go to college and we also want to donate part of our money towards breast cancer research," she said. My heart immediately melted into a pile of butter. She pointed towards their pink cooler and items they had. I thanked her for the lemonade and she gave me another hug and asked me to come visit her again. As I crossed the street, she yelled to cars passing by, asking them to buy her .50 cent lemonade.

Once I met up with my boyfriend, I literally had a break down about my encounter with this girl. Here I was being selfish and having a pity party--where this beautiful, sweet, caring girl is working so hard in hopes to someday afford a college education. She had compassion on me, she hugged me. she held me in her little arms-- she truly gave me insight into a problem I often overlook.

It infuriated me to know that not only this girl, but many children across the United States futures are impacted upon which economic class they are born into. Sure, she will have scholarships opportunities, however, by the time she is eligible, who knows how many others she will compete against. This girl is fighting against the odds that are not in her favor.

Although I don't have a lump-some of money to help her, I hope that having compassion on her like she did with me can make all the difference. I encourage you to share what Phoebe reminded me of today, compassion. Give someone that extra support they need to push onward.