Sidewalk Embrace
Let’s set the scene.
I’m in Maui on a family vacation and it’s been challenging and wonderful at the same time. Let’s call it “chonderful”. It’s my wife and I, and our 2 boys who are 7 and 10.
We are on the last day of a 12 day trip.
The last 4 days were spent in Paia, a wonderful little town that consists of surfers, boutique shopping, Mama’s Fish House, and is the start to the famous Road to Hana.
During our stay and exploration of the town, I noticed that on one end of the main strip there is a gathering of people that appear to be the homeless group in Paia. They are lounging around with grocery carts and old sleeping bags on the ground.
One gentlemen sticks out from the bunch that has sandy blonde hair and looks like a tan version of Gordon Lightfoot with a thicker and longer beard. This man also is only wearing shorts, no shirt or shoes and appears to be about 45 or 50 years old. The main reason he sticks out is that he is having a conversation with himself that is very elaborate. The best way to describe it is that he appears to almost be teaching a class with large hand movements and discussions. I caught him numerous times wandering throughout the town continuing in the same fashion. I was very curious about this man but didn’t spend the time exploring this any further than my normal observation. I did notice that no passerby's really gave this man the time of day and they usually went out of their way to avoid him.
On the last day I noticed something very interesting and wonderful.
The last morning of the trip we were having breakfast at a place called Choice Health Bar. They serve killer acai bowls. We order our food from a wonderful young woman with a nose ring and go sit inside at a table with a window looking outside at the sidewalk and other tables for other patrons.
I notice the shirtless man having the elaborate conversation with himself posted right outside. My 10 year old son, who has an extremely compassionate heart, also take notice.
The next thing that happened is quite beautiful.
A young man, that can be described as a very tan, mid twenty something surfer dude with some tattoos and no shoes, walks in the restaurant. He starts talking to the girl with the nose ring. They are on the outside of the counter looking at the menu up on the wall to the side. I can’t hear what they are saying to each other but it appears that they are friendly and that they possibly know each other. In the restaurant, there is background music playing and at that point, the song Sitting on the Dock of the Bay from Ottis Redding comes on and the young man starts bobbing his head and smiling while the woman says something and walks away back to her post.
The young surfer dude walks out the door and the shirtless man, that is having the discussion with himself, is standing about 15 feet from the entrance. The young man walks over to the shirtless man and hugs him for about 30 seconds with the shirtless man’s head in his shoulder. Shirtless man is not talking to himself anymore and they just sit in a peaceful embrace in the sunshine, right outside of this restaurant.
Once the hug is over, the young man says something to the shirtless man, walks over to the table right outside of the window where we are sitting and grabs a book titled, Yogi, and some scrap skins of fruit and walks away. The shirtless man goes on and continues his elaborate discussion with himself.
End scene.
What just happened?!? I’m not exactly sure.
Did those three people all know each other? It’s possible and likely. Is there a chance that they were all only acquaintances and maybe only knew each other from living in the same small town? This is also possible and completely likely. Is there a chance that the young man and young woman with the nose ring knew each other but did not know the shirtless man personally? That’s also likely.
What I found fascinating from the outside, looking in, was that there was a outwardly expressed sign of love and compassion unlike any other that I have seen. 1 man hugging another man that appeared to be completely avoided by most. I was able to witness true compassion.
Are there facts that I’m completely missing in this story? Of course.
With that being said, I do believe we live in a world where there are people that are not seen and are completely avoided by the rest of us. They might be the homeless, the mentally ill, the elderly, the deformed, the disabled, etc.
They are shunned by society. Ignored and avoided.
Sad.
We can help and we can change. By slowing down to the speed of love and recognizing that we are not far from our fellow humas that we avoid at all costs.
We all will have a bad streak of luck. We will all be elderly at some point in the very near future. There is also a chance of becoming deformed or mentally ill ourselves one day.
Do we also want to be avoided when this happens? Or do we want to be embraced and loved? Held in the compassionate hand of another?
Regardless of the facts that I’m missing in the experience I had, I witnessed something beautiful that day that touched my soul and changed my outlook on the way I look at others.
I have some work to do! I have more compassion and presence to add value and love to the world.
Join me.
