In the winter the nights get colder and longer.  Just as I had awoken at about 5:30, the morning was young and seemed just as asleep as I was. My journey began in Michigan. My mom had warned me about the weather outside. As she advised me to wear a thicker jacket. I began to gather my clothes for the day. I couldn’t believe the snow! This day I felt particularly in the holiday spirit.

     By now it was pushing towards 8:30. My parents were both off to work and my sister was still sound asleep. With my parents being gone often my sister was the closest person to me. I wanted her to be in a good mood when she woke up. So I set off to the store to get her something warm to drink. On my way there I watched as each step I took in the fresh snow, my footprint appeared.

      There was this guy who appeared to be homeless.The way he was dressed made him stand out a little. His clothes were dirty and his hair was a mess. He showed up out of nowhere. As he began to talk to me, I was polite to him and treated him no differently than I would anyone else. His mood was not as good as mine as I tried getting him in the holiday spirit. He told me he never liked the holidays and he considered himself the Grinch. After talking to him he seemed to be opening up. At first, he didn’t give me an explanation on why he thought the holidays were bad. Shortly after, he explained that the holiday time was even colder and made him feel lonely.

     Then he began to go into depth about his life story. I sympathized  for him. All I did was listen and validate his feelings. By now he seemed to have a whole new attitude. In some sense I completely understood what it is like to be lonely but when someone is upset that is the last thing they want to hear about. As soon as the conversation began to end, without thinking about it I offered to buy him some coffee. In the back of my mind I could hear my mom lecturing me about the dangers of talking to strangers.

Once he took me up on the offer we walked up to the next block where the store was. We did some small talking and once I purchased the beverages he thanked me. This sudden urge came on to me, just to thank him for talking with me. It was clear that we both had the pleasure of meeting one another. My main goal that day was to make my sister happy. She sure is a chirpy thing when she first wakes up. Always having a bright smile on her face.

That day I realized that just because someone is in a bad mood, doesn't mean we should avoid them! Maybe they just need someone to validate their feelings. Once I arrived home my sister was just waking up. I proceeded to give her the hot cocoa and go on with my day. Never did it cross my mind to discuss this encounter with anyone.