Free Water

Labour Day was not a holiday for me this year. I found myself up at 6:30am for a jog, shower and breakfast and heading out the door at 8:30 to go meet our leader Krista at Union Park. This morning we talked about hospitality. Our task for today was to go out alone or in groups into the city to preform hospitable acts to others around us. Now when I think of hospitality, I think of bringing someone into my house, serving them a meal and letting them use a bed for a night if needed, not walking around a city looking to do something for others. I set out with two other girls walking around trying to smile and say hello to people we passed. This was actually harder then I thought it would be. Not many people make eye contact in the city, and some look at you as if you are crazy if you do. So after a while of this we decided we needed a new plan. One of the girls tried to buy a lady a coffee at Starbucks, but was turned down. So we kept riding the bus and thinking. Something my mom said to me came to mind. She had suggested we hand out free water. So we headed to Walgreens, bought a case of water and started walking. Now when you aren't looking for homeless people you see them on every corner, but as soon as you begin to look for them you can't find any. Slowly but surely our case of water diminished. It was a fairly warm sunny day in downtown Chicago, and our water was well received for the most part. We received many heartfelt thanks, and even a couple "God Bless" which we gladly returned. This wasn't something I thought I would ever see myself doing on a Labour Day Monday, as they are usually spent getting ready to start school the next day. For once it was spent helping other's who needed it way more than I did. At one point when we were walking around and I had one water bottle left, I couldn't find someone to give it to. I was hot, tired, thirsty and super close to opening the bottle and drinking it right there. A couple minutes later I found someone to give it to. I'm glad I didn't drink it because after we finished handing out the water we stopped at a restaurant for lunch, where I promptly bought a bottle of water. Something I could afford, but the person who I gave my last bottle to couldn't.

I think this was a great way for us to spend our holiday - using it to help others instead of lazing around our flat, or spending the day for ourselves. It showed me that I don't have to invite someone into my house for a meal or to use a bed, but that I can walk around handing out something as simple as water to those in need. I saw many smiles that day that might not have been shown if we had thrown a couple dollars into all the cups being shook. I know they appreciate the money, but this was our way of showing the homeless that we cared.