Homeless man surprised college student who regularly fed him with a container — what was inside left her speechless
A person might get kindness in return for kindness, even if they were not expecting anything. A college student who regularly fed a homeless person on her way to her part-time job hadn't expected anything in return. She would bring food and get her container back the following day. But one fine day, the homeless man put something in the container and the student was surprised to see what was in there. She hoped to get something nice for the man, per her Reddit post, where she goes by u/Own-Bluejay-7422.
"I live in a fairly growing city. Every day for work, I take a specific route to avoid tolls. There's this really long light at an intersection that takes forever to turn green, so I made allies with 2-3 of the homeless men that hang around there," the student began. She had started bringing food for them and more often for one of them, as she saw the man the most often. "His name is Tom. He's a veteran, so it aches my heart a little more when I talk to him." They had established a routine where the student brought the man food in a reusable plastic container every day. The next day, she would give him a new container with food and the man would give back the used container.
"The last time I saw him (yesterday), I could only bring him a couple of snacks instead of a hot meal. I apologized because I'm a college student working a part-time job with bills and whatnot." The old man reassured her that it was okay and that she had helped him a lot more than she knew. She still felt terrible that she hadn't given him an "actual meal." However, on that day, the woman saw the man on her way back home. She was quite surprised as she had never seen him in the evenings. "But he stopped me and gave me my container back. He had cleaned it for me and placed two $20 bills inside it. He told me, 'You have fed me and kept meat on my bones, thank you. For once, let me feed you,'" the woman went on.
She explained that the old man probably had no idea that she really needed his kindness that day. "Not the money. But the kindness." The woman hoped to bring the man something nice as a thank you and asked the internet for suggestions. She wanted to give him a backpack full of essentials or a blanket. In an update, the woman shared, "I booked him a room at a nearby hotel for a week! With the help of a close friend, I also received some money from Venmo and someone also sent an Amazon gift card." People appreciated the sweet incident in the comments section of the post.
u/JamesMajor44 wrote, "Single serve/non-refrigerated snacks would be great: think beef jerky sticks, single serve trail mix or peanuts, dried fruits will help with certain vitamins." u/Glittering_Code_4311 commented, "I admire you and you are a blessing to this group. Suggest, as others have stated, a backpack, socks, rain gear and for a snack, maybe something that can be resealed and not crushed. Splurge on one fun treat, maybe a brownie, cookie, or donut, or a soda. Also, jerky could be a good idea for a snack." u/DietCokeBreak01 remarked, "If you give snacks, make sure they're soft - like NutriGrain vs a granola bar. Dental hygiene may be an issue."