Don’t
Judge A Book by its Cover
By Sandy Rodgers
© 2011
A day in the life of Sandy Rodgers, today appearing in
the Universe as Rev. Rodgers Rescue Ranger.
I was sitting in a McDonald’s utilizing the free WI-FI
they now offer. With certain changes in my daily schedule, over the past 2
weeks I have frequented this location to the point several of the employees
greet me by name when I enter. So I am just sitting, doing my now regular
routine of using my laptop, accessing the internet. When in walks a female and
she sits adjacent to me in a booth that is across the aisle. She did not smell
but appeared a little disheveled. For the sake of this writing I will describe
her as a homeless looking person, she is very, very thin. For those of you who can remember she looked
like Olive Oyl in the Popeye The Sailor Man cartoon.
As she took her seat, she looked directly at me and
asked me to pray for her. I assured her I would by saying “Yes Ma’am you bet I will.”
She told me she had a drug problem. Then this lady said, “I do not want any
money from you but I sure am hungry.” My reply was, “I will buy you something
to eat, what type of drink do you want?” She answered “Coffee.”
Off to the counter I went to order this God-child some
nourishment for her thin body. When I returned to her table I simply placed the
tray of food in front of her and returned to my laptop.
So on BTR (Blog Talk Radio), my nephews Jay and Anthony ‘AK’ King do a show called ‘Kings In The Morning’ which airs every Tuesday and
Thursday morning from 7am to 10am PST. It is so hilarious that even when I only
have a few moments I turn it on and listen to get my laugh on for the day. The current
time is now 10:05 EST and the show has been on for 5 minutes.
I turn my head towards the wall, not to ignore the
lady but because the language and content of the show can be a little risqué, I
want to make sure it was not disturbing anyone in the establishment.
I am sitting there fully engrossed in the whimsical
antics of the hosts of this show; Lyn, Robert, Jay, Darius and AK. I am in the
chat room with the other listeners just clowning. I was ‘IN the moment of the
show!’
When next I saw and heard the store Manager come over
to this woman who is eating her food in a way that appears she is truly
enjoying every bite of it. I had seen some action from my peripheral vision and
thought she must really be enjoying her food. You know what I mean – when you
eat your favorite food and it is seasoned perfectly and at the right
temperature. And you sink your teeth into it and it feels like a bit of heaven.
Anyway that’s how it looked to me. And of course I got a kick from it because I
had bought the food for her.
To my utter surprise the store Manager said, “I am
getting complaints from some of the customers and you need to leave the
restaurant” to this homeless woman who was simply sitting there eating her
food, not disturbing anyone. And the woman looks at me for saving or lending a
helping hand or protection. A look that definitely pleaded for help.
She had spilled some coffee on her tray so I told her
to place the lid back on the cup. And she did. I said to the manager that I had
purchased her the breakfast, I was not paying attention to her but it did not
seem like she was offending anyone especially not me. The manager just nodded
at me!
Then a big man came over to the table, he did not have
on a uniform so I am assuming he did not work for McDonald’s. And in a deep,
manly voice (ha) he said, “I’m sorry but I need to ask you to leave!”
I am like huh???? Had I truly missed an incident that
caused this woman to be asked to leave? Had I gotten so caught up in the show
that I, well hell I don’t know. I had not seen anything that would suggest that
this person should be denied a meal to eat in peace!
She got up from the table, walked to the trash can to
dispose of the tray and trash. When she returned, again she looked at me with
God-eyes and said, “PLEASE PRAY FOR ME”. I said “Of course I will.”
Well I could no longer listen to the show. This thang
had messed me up. How do you just tell someone who is not harassing or
bothering anyone that they must go? So I turned off my laptop and prepared to
leave myself.
Another customer who had witnessed the entire incident
came over to me. He said, “I saw the whole thing and she was not bothering
anyone. I did not see where she was wrong in any way. She was simply eating the
food you had bought. People need to remember the same thing that happened to
this lady could happen to them. We never know when we will be down on our luck.
We forget too often. Thank you for buying her some food and making her feel
like a person.”
My initial reaction was to not return to this
establishment. But I kept praying asking for clarity and guidance. When finally
my reply to this whole situation was . . . .
“OK . . . JUST
USE ME GOD!”
We must shine our light wherever we are put. Sometimes
it’s the only light some people will ever witness!!!
