What do you see in the picture? Where are they, what are
they doing, who do you think they are, what do you think the story might be?
This story is about the owner of a café called Abigail. One
day a homeless person came in and asked if Abigail had any spare change for
him.
What is spare change, why is he asking for that?
Abigail asked him, “Why don’t you have a job?”
Marcus told Abigail he had been in prison and now it was
harder to get a job.
What do you think Abigail said?
Abigail said, “Nothing is given to me for free. You want a
job? I’ll give you a job!”
Why Say that? Why offer Marcus a job, is that a risk? Why
not just give him some money and he’ll go away?
Abigail couldn’t give Marcus a full time job; her business
was struggling and she could only afford to employ him for two hours a day. The
first day he came, before starting work, Abigail asked him, “Do you want some
food?”
Why do that?
Marcus ate half of the sandwich and wrapped the other half
and put it in his pocket.
Why do you think he did that?
Marcus explained there was another homeless person across
the street who needed food and he was saving the sandwich for her. Abigail
asked, “Do you know her?” and Marcus replied, “No, but I know that she is
hungry, so I want to give her my food.”
Why do that when Marcus was so hungry himself? What does
that show about Marcus?
Marcus worked for two hours. He returned the next day and
worked for another two hours. He did this every day for two weeks and then
Abigail offered him a permanent job. Abigail says, “Some cafes won’t even let
you use the toilet unless you buy something. I don’t judge someone on how they
look – go use it. I do not treat homeless people any differently.”
“I don’t judge people” – what does
that mean?
Why do you think some café’s won’t let people use a toilet, can you see their point of view? Do you agree or disagree?
When Marcus started working permanently, Abigail suggested Marcus save 10% of his pay every week so he could learn how to save money. Abigail said, “I want to help Marcus but he also needs to want to help himself. Just like Marcus, I had my help. I had plenty of people to help me make it to where I am today. They believed I could do it. People need to have someone to believe in them.”
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