Today, when I was at Desert Industries looking for some good books to read, I felt a little sad because I didn’t get to go to the library and check out some resource/research materials, and I was frustrated with my bike. For whatever reason, I cannot get the bike to work, as the brakes are problematic and it makes a funny sound that I don’t trust. I hate riding this bike because it’s kind of unsafe, but I can’t figure out how to fix it.

Anyway, I was frustrated with the bike and sad I couldn’t go to the library today to learn via resource materials, but I was stopped in my tracks when, after I’d gotten a couple books (a book on the rebelliousness of scientists like Einstein and Galileo, and Bullfinch’s mythology), a homeless man came up to me and said, “That’s a really nice bike.”

I stopped in my tracks for the usual reason. Here was another homeless man, and I was asking myself, how could I best serve him? But I also stopped because, his comment that he liked my bike, showed an appreciation I’d taken for granted in my miserable start of a day. The bike is mostly unfunctional, but, I do have it. While, he does not.

This makes me pause because it again makes me appreciate what I have and stop to think about just how much some people live without. Cranky because my bike wasn’t working well and I couldn’t go to the library … sure. That was true and reasonable. But, I have the bike, and more importantly, I have a place to live.

It’s a simple story, but one worth sharing. This man wasn’t coercive at all. He didn’t ask for anything. He just said he liked my bike, said a few more things in a pleasant conversational manner, and then went on his way.

And in all honesty, I’m more appreciative of what I have, and humbled.