Friday – 5 August 2016
He was in a wheel chair sitting by the side of the road parked in front of stationary cars in a busy street, unable to get onto the footpath due to the kerb. He wore old and rugged clothing, wheeling himself towards another man dressed in similar fashion laying down by the footpath with most people glancing down before looking forward again and ignoring him. They spoke for a few minutes as the rest of society walked past with disregard due to their unspoken yet established positions in this world.
With every chance he got, the man on the footpath would throw items in covered in plastic or placed in brown paper bags at the man in the wheelchair when there was a of gap of moving people. I wondered what it could be as I watched from a distance, whether it was food or something else? When the man in the wheel chair picked up the items and placed them on his lap, he opened one of them covered in plastic wrapping and began eating it, confirming one of my initial thoughts that it was edible. Seeing such an interaction made me more grateful of what I do have, the food I am able to eat, and the house I am able to come home to. Both men owned little yet gave each other so much. Not only was food exchanged, but also kindness.