This is an inspirational story I wanted to share with you about some friends of mine. It is written in first person to make it easier to write and read.

Several years ago I was working for a large insurance and investments company in Hartford, CT. I was a member of a small team that administered and maintained the software for state employees 401a and 403b retirement accounts. The job was very enjoyable for me and I liked the team members a great deal. We were a tight group and hung out together even when not working. During the summer months one of my friends and I would always go for a walk around the grounds at lunch time. Seems there were more people outside during lunch than inside. There were about 5000 employees in this one building and the grounds were very well kept so enjoying the walk seemed what everyone did.

One day as my friend and I walked along we happened upon a rather indigent young man. Could have used a shave, most certainly needed a bath and some clean clothes. He asked us if we could spare some change and I had no cash on me after lunch. My friend reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of coins and extracted a nickel and handed it to the young man. He then made a crude remark to him. I will not repeat it here. The young man took the nickel and put it in his pocket and thanked him and continued on his way.

We also continued to walk and he made a couple more crude remarks and acted as though he were proud of his behavior. I asked him why he felt it necessary to humiliate that kid anymore than he probably already was. He said, "That kid is a loser and will panhandle money up and down the street rather than get a job and I enjoy making him feel embarrassed for what he is doing." We went back to work.

I thought about what had happened for the next week as we walked, but we never saw the young man again. I made sure I always had some money so that if we did see him I could give it to him. One day I walked alone as my friend was off work for personal reasons and I did come across the young man again. He actually recognized me it seemed but passed by me without saying a word. I stopped and turned to him and asked him if he needed anything. He said, "I can always use some change if you have some to spare." I reached into my pocket and handed him a twenty dollar bill. He looked at it and then at me and said, "I cannot take this from you, it is far to much money for you to give me." "Do you need it?", I asked him. Of course he said yes, and started to say something else and I stopped him. I told him, "There is no need to explain any further, if you need it, then use it, if you do not need it then give it to someone who does because it is yours now." He folded the bill and put it in his pocket.

He thanked me about 30 times almost to the point I was getting uncomfortable. I asked him if he remembered me and he indicated he did and he also remembered my friend. I told him I was sorry that my friend had treated him that way. He said not to worry, it was nothing new for him. We made small talk for a few minutes. The young man had a wife and a baby at home and he had not worked in over 9 months. He had no real skills and took odd jobs whenever he could get them. When I saw him that day he was on his way to the manpower office to see about a job. As he walked off I asked him if he would do me a favor. He agreed and I said, "Meet me here tomorrow at about this time if you can." He said he would try his best to be here.

The next day I walked without my friend and sure enough, James met me. I asked him if he had time to walk a ways with me and he said sure. We chatted about nothing in particular until I said to him that I wanted to give him something and it would be without conditions. But I would request a favor which he was not obligated to accept, it was up to him. I gave him a one hundred dollar bill, again he did not want to take it, but I insisted. Before putting it in his pocket he looked at me almost suspiciously and asked me just what the favor would be. "James", I said, "I want you to stop on your way home and buy a razor, then I want you to take your clothes to the laundrymat and then buy food and necessities for your wife and child with the rest." Then tomorrow I want to see you shaven, bathed and with clean clothes ready to find a job." He agreed to do that.

I did not see James the next day, nor the next, in fact I did not see him for two weeks. I was a little disappointed but at the same time I told him my request was not a condition, he was free to choose what he wanted to do, so I decided not to give it another thought. Two weeks later I ran into James and I almost did not recognize him. He was clean shaven, had a nice dress shirt and a tie as well, shined shoes, nice clean pants and he even got a hair cut. He told me he had followed my advice and when he went to manpower the next morning they sent him to a job at a local office supply store just down the street from where I worked. He got the job and loved every minute of it, especially the steady paycheck. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a twenty dollar bill and handed it to me. I told him he really did not have to do that. His exact words were, "I know and that is why I want to." I took the money from him and he went on his way back to work. Over the course of the next year James paid me back the $100 as well.

James and I saw each other almost every day as we walked at lunch time. We would chat and became very good friends considering the difference in our ages. He was a very nice young man and I even met his wife and baby. I have not seen James in several years now, but I just know he is doing fine. I pray he is.