The other day I sent an email through Help A Reporter Out (HARO) that asked for "a story about an encounter with a houseless person that changed your perception about those less fortunate." As I wrote it, I realized what a spiritual experience it was so I figured I'd share it here as well: When I'm in Washington, I go to one of my local parks nearly every day to work at the coffee shop in the center of the park. It's an absolutely gorgeous place right on the water that is connected to another part of town by a long "boardwalk" on concrete pillars elevated over the bay (see the attached picture). I'd park my car at one end of the boardwalk and walk across to the park to get some work done. At the end of the walk, there's a gravel trail with several benches at the foot of a large hill/cliffside that shades the benches from the sun. On one of those benches, sat a bearded man with a small cardboard sign labeled "Free sports cards" with several vintage baseball and football cards on display. As long as it wasn't raining, this guy was always there. For the longest time, I walked by and didn't pay much attention to him based on the stigma of unhoused people. But the more I saw him, the more curious I became. One day, I was feeling generous. I had just received my COVID stimulus check and when I walked by him I thought, "I'm going to buy him out and make his day." So I went to the ATM, pulled out $100, and walked to talk with him. He was very nice and gracious, we had a good chat, and he told me that, although he was homeless, he had a storage locker filled with cards and it was the best way he could make a few extra dollars each day. As I walked away, my personal self was very proud of the good deed I had done. Those cards are still sitting in my closet at home. From that point, every time I walked by him, he greeted me with a loud, happy, "HEYYY!" and we'd talk from time to time. This guy was always so kind and positive, I couldn't help but think that I'd never be able to keep that kind of positivity if I were in his situation.