the tale of a man who had nothing

Written by: Joshua Wheeler

The Tale of a Man Who had Nothing

As I walked along the road I found a man curled in clear plastic asleep. I followed from a safe distance armed only with my camera. I watch as the man lay asleep holding what little posessions he had.

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Soon enough he began to stir and took a walk to the corner of the street. To think a homeless man in the middle of Pennsylvania. I wanted to learn more.

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The man walked slowly towards the center of the four way stop to stand on a man hole cover. It appeared the cover was warmer then the street. I thought to myself there must be steam heating the cover like in the cities.

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It was then, looking at the cover to the man hole, it hit me. The man had no shoes, no socks, and no jacket. It is the dead of winter surely he wouldn’t survive much longer like that I had to do something. But what?

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I continued following him he walked almost aimlessly towards the college campus and then suddenly stopped to stair at a sign which read Elizabethtown College. He stood at the entrance a short time and began slowly walking.

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He seemed interested in the college. I kept following, interested to see where he would go next. When he reached the end of the driveway he took a seat on the curb.

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While he sat two women walked by him as though he were not even there. They were students or so it seemed. I overheard them talking about a coat and someone looking cold.

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Now by this time the same two girls were on their way back. Except it looked as though they had a coat for the man. What a nice gesture especially around the holiday season.

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The cold man was thrilled. He would now no longer be cold and his body would stay warm. But what would he do about his feet?

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The girls left and the man began to walk again. He took the long walk up the hill on alpha drive. Scouring the ground for loose change.

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The man finally came to a stop sign and began to take a rest. The man dozed in and out of consciousness. I sat down near the man and looked at the photographs I had already taken.

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While sitting there a Campus Security officer walked toward the man. I had figured he was going to ask him to move along but as he came closer I noticed he had a pair of boots in his hand.

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It took me completely by surprise. The officer walked closer to the man. He knelt down and handed over the boots. The man took to boots with almost a stunned look on his face. In the dead of winter he couldn’t believe someone would be so generous.

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The Officer left and the man stood up and began to try out his new boots. he started to walk with them he walked down alpha past Meyer Residence. He still held his cup and sign though.

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The Man walked towards Mt. Joy street. But stopped abruptly to lean against a building. I continued to keep my distance. He watched as the cars drove by.

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I started to try and get a better angle at him when I was spotted. It seemed he had seen my camera but I wasn’t sure. Now at this point he stood on the curb with the late sun blaring down on him.

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A woman drove up to the man and called him over. I wanted to see what was going on so I had to ditch my safe distance. I walked up behind the man and watched as the woman held up a form for a job interview.

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I circled around the car. The man was being offered a job! He is being given the opportunity to change his life for the better.

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He gets into the car and begins to read over the interview. The story was unfolding before my eyes. It was almost hard to believe.

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The woman drove off with the man that day. As they started to leave the man excited stuck his body out the window and looked back towards the camera in such excitement. Afterwards I wandered off amazed at what I had witnessed. I went home and told my wife and she was extremely surprised. I always wondered what had happened with that man.

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I went for a walk about six months later and a man approached me. He was well dressed and clean cut and asked “If he could have the pictures.” I said, “What?” He replied “I was the homeless man. I now have a house and a car and a full time job managing a department store.” I congratulated him and asked to take his picture. I hope this tells a story about how a small gift goes a long way.

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