Becoming Human

I had an experience today, sitting in an out of the way public piazza in Rome having a rest and a bite to eat. I'll put up this photo which was from mere moments before and aptly displays my privileged position to be sitting enjoying a gelato after shopping for food for a few dinners in the Cosimato Market,




I noticed, off to the right of the stalls on a short flight of stairs a middle-aged women looking haggard and rough and down on her luck - and she was sobbing, staring down at the pavement in front of her. 

An older guy, also looking like a homeless person or certainly one having hard times himself noticed her also and went across the piazza to her and talked to her for a few moments, then headed directly over to me. 


When he reached me he put his hand out and said, "Lei e fame e ha bisogno di cibo" - she is hungry and needs food. I gave him all my change, around 4 Euros, enough for a loaf of bread and some cheese. The man looked at me directly and steadily in the eye and said slowly, grazie - then went straight into a pasticceria across the street and bought and brought her some food. I feel like I made a tiny change in the world today. We all need to be human and just take care of one another.