The Homeless Woman We Met Recently

Summary

The author and his wife met a homeless woman named Rosemary while driving out of a Target parking lot and offered her a ride to a bus stop.

Abstract

The author and his wife encountered a woman named Rosemary who appeared to be homeless while leaving a Target parking lot. They offered her a ride to a bus stop, and she accepted. Rosemary revealed that she had recently become homeless after her husband left her and was staying at a women's shelter. She was grateful for the ride and mentioned that people do not offer rides to strangers anymore. The author noted that Rosemary did not appear to be homeless and unkempt but seemed to be poor. He expressed hope that she would find a job and not remain homeless.

Opinions

The author and his wife showed kindness by offering Rosemary a ride.
Rosemary was grateful for the ride and mentioned that people do not offer rides to strangers anymore.
The author noted that Rosemary did not appear to be homeless and unkempt but seemed to be poor.
The author expressed hope that Rosemary would find a job and not remain homeless.
The author acknowledged that there are thousands of women like Rosemary who are alone and become homeless.
The author suggested that small acts of kindness may help brighten the day of homeless women.

She had been shopping at Target

She had apparently not been homeless for long

After my wife and I had finished shopping at Target one day, we were driving out of the parking lot. We saw a woman who appeared to be a senior citizen. She was struggling with carrying two large bags of items as she was walking along the sidewalk. It was away from Target’s parking lot so she obviously did not have a car.

My wife had seen her shopping inside Target earlier.

We decided to ask her if we could give her a ride somewhere. We asked if she would like a ride. She had been going to the bus stop.

She readily accepted a ride and acted very grateful. She was not afraid to get into a car with complete strangers. She said that people do not do that type of thing anymore, such as offering a ride. She could assume that we were harmless.

We will call her Rosemary although that was not her name. She told us her name as soon as she got into the car.

We didn’t think Rosemary was a homeless person. We just thought she was a woman who could use a ride because she was walking with a load of big bags.

Although it had seemed that Rosemary was an older woman, she said she was fifty-nine. She went on to give us the address where she was staying. She said it was a woman’s homeless shelter. She said her husband had just left her so she was fortunate that she was able to find a place to stay. She planned to begin looking for a job.

Rosemary did not appear to be homeless and unkempt, but she did seem to be somewhat poor. She had been shopping at Target and had actually purchased a lot of items. She must have had some money available to her.

She had apparently not been homeless for long. The weather has been cold in Salt Lake City so she was lucky to be at the shelter. Hopefully, she will find a job and it will work out for her so she will not remain homeless.

We are unlikely to see her again. She became a temporary friend for fifteen minutes on a ride in a car.

There must be thousands of women in the world like Rosemary. They are alone and become homeless. They could use a little help to get back on their feet so that they can escape being homeless. It is a sad situation for them.

Small acts of kindness may help brighten their day.