Lunchtime Serenade

Today I rode my bike to the Good Earth grocery store for lunch.

I brought my lunch out to the empty bench in front of the store and began to eat.

A few minutes later a homeless man in a baseball cap sat beside me. He took off his cap and threw it down next to me.

The rim of his hat was grungy and we both peered at the dirty hat that was now sitting between us.

I took a couple of bites of my food and the homeless man began to rock back and forth.

I felt kind of scared of him.

I was also grossed out by his grungy hat that was right next to me as I was eating my food.

So I got up and walked over to a table a few yards away from him and sat down.

The homeless guy stared at me.

I had a brief thought of wondering if my moving away from him had made him feel rejected. But then I rationalized that thought away by telling myself that he was crazy.

And crazy people don’t feel rejected.

Or do they?

I continued to eat my lunch under the scrutiny of his stare. Finally he got up, put his baseball cap back on his head and walked away.

Whew. I felt some relief that he was gone.

I continued to eat.

Next thing I knew he came back with a guitar.

A guitar?

He walked over and stood right in front of me.

He stared into my eyes.

I felt myself shrink under the gaze of his stare.

I continued to eat my food.

This went on for a couple of minutes. Me eating my food. The homeless guy staring at me while holding his guitar in front of his chest.

Then he began to strum and sing.

A love song.

I can’t remember the words but he was quite a good singer and guitar player.

After he was done I smiled at him. I still felt a little unnerved by him but also really touched.

“I’m sorry I made you move,” he said. “I sometimes do things that make make people move away from me and I don’t want people to move away. Especially gorgeous young ladies like yourself.”

I smiled.

He continued: “I didn’t want you to move away but you did. I don’t know how to act sometimes. Don’t know what to do. What to say. Like right now. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I caused you to run away. Will you forgive me?”

I was speechless.

He said it again: “Will you forgive me for making you move away?”

I nod and smile.

I put my hand on my heart and bowed my head at him.

He smiled and walked away.

Tagged as: Good Earth Fairfax