LIFE

When I was student some years ago, I was living in Des Moines city in Iowa State of America. During the noon hour I sometimes used to drive into the city and eat at McDonalds.

The routine was usually the same, except for that day that I remembered was a Tuesday. I ordered the same thing as always: a Big Mac, large fries, and a small coke. I proceeded to find a seat.

The moment I sat down, I realized that I had to fight through the large crowd of hungry people; I hurried up to get my ketchup. After about four minutes, I returned to my seat.

When I returned to my seat I was stunned. In the seat that I had previously been sitting in, there was an elderly lady eating my lunch.

She was about 60 years old, gray hair, and wrinkled in the face. She was wearing an assortment of clothes that were dirty and badly torn. And sitting beside her, was a large package. I realized that she was a beggar. But the package looked clean, which didn’t fit her. That was the first time till those days I had seen a beggar in Des Moines city.

I walked up to her and said that she was sitting in my chair, and eating my food. She said to me: “It’s my food, and besides, it doesn’t have your name on it.”

While feeling sorry for her, I took my ketchup back to the counter and ordered another meal. When I returned, she had left. I then sat down in the same chair and noticed that she had left her package.

Five minutes later she returned and asked me to hand her the package. I replied by saying, “sorry miss but this package is mine and besides, it doesn’t have your name on it.”

At that point, by her look, she seemed outrageously mad. After staring at me for 30 seconds, she stormed out the door.

But immediately I said to myself what do I need her package for?  So I got up from my seat quickly and ran after her, calling her… "lady…lady in blue colour!"

She was walking faster than I realized.

But suddenly another lady, well-dressed, and kind of young, while seeing me with package, ran toward me with a happy smile. She said, "thank you so much; this is my package."

While she was talking I felt she was hardly breathing. She was apparently running and looking for the beggar. Any way she added: "An old and kind of mad woman grabbed my package in front of my eyes. Thank God you have it."

I wanted to be sure if the package is hers. So I asked her what is inside of it. She said there is one perfume with some cosmetic stuff and the rest are some medicine for her daughter. "Those medicines are very expensive and my daughter needs them desperately."

I took a quick look into the package and I realized she was right. I handed her the package and she thanked me again.

But I was wondering about the beggar! Her life was worth a penny, yet she holds her head high like a tree.