His action changed my life

I was living in Chicago and going through what was a particularly cold winter both in my personal life and the outside temperature.  One evening I was walking home from a bar where I had been drinking alone, feeling sorry for myself, when I saw a homeless man standing over an exhaust grate in front of a department store.  He was wearing a filthy sport coat and approaching everyone who passed by for money.

I was too immersed in my own troubles to deal with him so I crossed the street.  As I went by, I looked over and saw a businessman come out of the store and pull a ski parka out of a bag and hand it to the homeless man.  For a moment both the man and I were frozen in time as the businessman turned and walked away.  Then the man looked across the street at me.  He shook his head slowly and I knew he was crying.

It was the last time I have ever been able to disappear into my own sorrow. 
Unknown author