Homeless man walked into her cafe asking for money—she asked him one simple question and it changed his life
Some people need one chance to make something good out of their lives. A homeless man named Marcus got just that when a kind cafe owner, Cesia Abigail, offered him a job. Nobody wanted to hire him due to his felonies, so he had no other option but to ask for money. But when he walked into a cafe to ask for money, Abigail changed his life with her compassion and understanding, per CBS News.
When Marcus went to Abigail's cafe to get money for food, she asked him, "Why don't you have a job? You know nothing is given to me for free, right?" He answered, "Well, I have a lot of felonies and no one wants to hire me for that. So, now I had to turn myself to the streets and get money the only way I know — stealing and asking for money." Although Abigail's business was going through a difficult time, she offered Marcus a job. "You want a job? Then I have one for you." He immediately accepted the cafe owner's proposal and said, "I will do anything for food." Abigail shared that many people felt that she was a "blessing" for him, but in reality, she was the one who needed a blessing.
When Marcus came in on the first day to work as a dishwasher, Abigail asked him if he wanted to eat something before he started working. She gave him a sandwich, but he only ate half of it and wrapped the other half for another homeless woman by the restaurant, per ABC News. "I said, 'Marcus, do you know the lady over there?' and he said, 'No, but I know that she is hungry, so I gave her my food,'" she added, "There are a lot of people who walk in, there are a lot of drugs and activities and crime in this area." If people walk into her cafe, she usually offers them food instead of money. "I told him nothing is given to me for free, just to see what his reaction was going to be. Some people might take that as an offense."
Marcus worked for two hours—the amount of time Abigail could afford to pay him. He returned and worked for two hours every day for two weeks before the owner decided to make his position permanent. "Some restaurants wouldn't even let you use their restrooms. I don't judge someone on how they look—go use it. I do not treat [homeless people] any differently." Marcus had been living on the streets since he was 16 years old and would have to put in quite some amount of work to turn his life around.
"It's going to be hard for him to let go of whatever addiction he has. I want to help him, but he needs to want to help himself," Abigail remarked. Later on, the duo agreed to take away 10 percent from Marcus's paycheck and keep it aside so he could learn how to save his money. "Just like Marcus, I had my help. I had plenty of people to help me make it to where I am today. They believed I could do it. People need to have someone to believe in them." Abigail posted about the incident on Facebook to encourage others to give strangers a chance.