"GOELO X-MAS mall experience, as told by F G +++ :"
By: smoking_gunn0
01 Feb 2002, 03:25 PM EST Msg. 10543 of 13151
(This msg. is a reply to 10542 by F_GOELO.)
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GOELO xmas mall experience, as told by F G +++ :
A couple of weeks ago, as Christmas was
approaching, I was rushing around
> trying to get some last minute shopping done. I
was stressed out and not
> thinking very fondly of the Christmas season
right then. It was dark,
> cold,
> and wet in the parking lot of the mall as I was
loading my car up with
> gifts
> that I felt obligated to buy. I noticed that I
was missing a receipt that
> I
> might need later, so mumbling under my breath, I
retraced my steps to the
> mall entrance.
>
> As I was searching the wet pavement for the lost
receipt, I heard a quiet
> sobbing. The crying was coming from a poorly
dressed boy of about 12
> years
> old. He was short and thin. He had no coat. He
was just wearing a
> ragged flannel shirt to protect him from the cold
night's chill. Oddly
> enough, he was holding a hundred dollar bill in
his hand. Thinking that
> he
> had gotten lost from his parents, I asked him
what was wrong. He told me
> his sad story. He said that he came from a large
family-three brothers
> and
> four sisters. His father had died when he was
nine years old. His mother
> was poorly educated and worked two full time
jobs.
>
> She made very little to support her large family.
Nevertheless, she had
> managed to skimp and save two hundred dollars to
buy her children
> Christmas
> presents. The young boy had been dropped off at
the mall by his mother on
> the way to her second job. He was to use the
money to buy presents for
> all
> his siblings and save just enough to take the bus
home. He had not even
> entered the mall, when an older boy grabbed one
of the hundred dollar
> bills
> and disappeared into the night.
>
> "Why didn't you scream for help?" I asked.
> The boy said, "I did."
> "And nobody came to help you?" I wondered aloud.
> The boy stared at the sidewalk and sadly shook
his head.
> "How loud did you scream?" I inquired.
> The soft-spoken boy looked up and meekly
whispered, "Help me!"
>
> I realized that absolutely no one could have
heard that poor boy cry for
> help. So I grabbed his other hundred and ran to
my car. |
