05 Oct 2009, Posted by justin in the category, 3 Comments

Scraps from a Bin: Part 2

The other day Jessie and I had a life changing experience.

It wasn’t anything dramatic or seemingly out of the ordinary. It was a simple and innocent connection that Jessie made with one of the lowest of lows. Funny how these moments touch us the most.

It was a beautiful sunny evening and Jessie and I were tidying up our apartment, as normal people do, and then we both glanced out the window to see the same old lady Jessie spoke about in her blog, ‘scraps from a bin’; once again going through the daily routine of humiliating herself in front of her local community. To be honest it’s a little surreal seeing a human living like that – it’s as if it’s so wrong that we’re not seeing things right. How in the world did things get to a point where an elderly lady should have to pull down her skirt behind dirty bins and use discarded paper or a plastic bag out of the smelly bin for toilet paper? Jessie and I sat there speechless, our heart went out for this lady once again.

Yet as much as it feels like it’s accomplishing something, we’ve been talking together about the problem of settling here. So many times we see or hear of these experiences and our heart sink. We’ve seen this lady a number of times, rummaging for food and maybe finding a few scraps – if the dogs haven’t got in first. Doing her deed for the world to see, and every time the same thing happens. We simply feel sorry for her. The problem is, this hasn’t changed anything. Life is still rock bottom for her.

So this time we tried something different. Jessie grabbed a baguette and went to take it down to the lady. In typical western fashion I said that maybe we should only take half down so we can save some for dinner – our whole pantry is full of food, and I’m ashamed as I think back to my initial reaction. Running down the stairs, Jessie greeted the lady and gave her the bread. Only her eyes could express how thankful she was. It was a dream come true, and it made a difference… a small one, but a difference all the same.

After coming back up to the house, Jessie decided to take some more food down, so she took another trip with some fruit, biscuits and a few other bits and pieces – nothing we would take a second glance at in our own pantry. The next reaction is what got us. As Jessie handed the food over, tears welled up in the lady’s eyes, and she was dumbfounded. Jessie couldn’t help but react with a hug. The odours from weeks on end without a shower became even more evident. I’m no sure who was touched more, Jessie or the woman who has become known as ‘the lady from the scraps bin’ to us. This was so out of the ordinary for her.

Jessie didn’t want to write about this as she felt totally humbled by the whole ordeal – how such a little act could impact someone so much. But I feel that this is a story that’s worth sharing, and from a bystanders perspective it challenged me in ways I’ve never been challenged before. I admire Jessie for what she did, but more than anything I’ve learnt something very important. Sitting in our apartment and feeling sorry for someone doesn’t change anything. But if we listen to our hearts, we should never ever underestimate the power and impact we can have if we act on those feelings.