I was visiting my sister a couple of weeks ago and it was snowing hard, in between bursts of icy raindrops. My husband and I dived into a coffee shop for a quick burst of heat. Sitting there watching the rain run down the window and people battle with their umbrellas all I could focus on was the one girl standing outside of the shopping centre selling a homeless magazine. Her approach wasn't pushy, just to ask if anyone wanted to buy it and then avert her gaze to the puddles on the ground. So many people walked past weighed down by bags of goodies from the sales that I began to feel quite sad.
I sent my husband back to the counter to buy her what I had just enjoyed -- a big hot chocolate with cream. Her smile melted my heart when I handed it over to her. She was foreign so her English wasn't great, but a smile knows no language barriers. I toyed with the idea that maybe just buying her 'what I had' wasn't right and that I should go to ask her what she would like. But then I convinced myself that if I did ask her she might feel less happy to accept and so for a brief moment our lives were one. Ironically though, as she had a smile on her face, I had a tear in my eye - as if we'd swapped lives for a split second.
- Author Unknown
