If you spend a lot of time living in a town or big city, then you have probably come across your fair share of homeless people during your walks of life. Any one of us could be a botched paycheck and a stroke of bad luck away from being in that position, and I think that the least we can all do is give to the homeless when we can.
But even if you're doing the best you can, on the other side, it's not a great place to be in. There's plenty of struggle involved in being homeless, and very often, there's a real chance that the donations of strangers isn't enough to keep you healthy. Then, you've got to do the unthinkable, and dive deep into the dumpsters; buying salvation with the last remaining shred of your dignity.
A Little Caesars restaurant located in Fargo, North Dakota, was the site of one such instance of dumpster diving. General Manager at this branch of Little Caesars is Michelle Lussier, and she started to notice people picking up food from the dumpster. She didn't like it, so she decided to apply her own solution.
She started to offer fresh slices of pizza inside the store for absolutely nothing, realising that no matter how matted our hair or how dishevelled our general look is, we're all deserving of compassion, kindness and dignity. So, she put up a sign in the window to really hammer home her point.
“To the person going through our trash for their next meal, you’re a human being and worth more than a meal from a dumpster. Please come in during operating hours for a couple slices of hot pizza and a cup of water at no charge. No questions asked.”
An easy criticism of today's society is the idea of 'slacktivism': the idea that showing you care about an injustice or tragedy is more than enough, and that offering "thoughts and prayers" or social media posts is just as important as... you know, going out there and trying to make a difference.
Not to Lussier, who doubled down on her policy while speaking to Valley News Live. "Don’t feel embarrassed if you’re hungry and you don’t want to do what others do, you know stand on the corner for handouts," she said. "You feel down about that, you’re more than welcome to come here and grab a couple slices."
Valley News Live says that this particular Little Caesars also donates leftover pizza to the homeless and to local food pantries, not to mention donation boxes for homeless people in the area. It's not always easy to empathise with the homeless, but we can all aim to emulate Michelle Lussier by giving as much as we can, when we can.
You never know when you might be in the same position.
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