Wednesday, January 5, 2011

You're a Good Man Viking Dave!

Obviously I think my husband is pretty great, otherwise I wouldn't have married him. However, even if I look at him not as my husband, but only as a man, I think he is one of the most wonderful people in the world.
Some of you are familiar with Dave's business situation. He owns a coffee shop and he gets all kinds in here. I'm not trying to scare anyone away, but you can usually find more than a handful of down and outers hanging around. There is the group who comes over from one of the recovery centers down the road, there are the old guys who stay at the mission at night, but have no where to go during the day, and then you have some people who never talk to anyone but themselves so you don't really know their story. Most business owners would chase these people out the door before they could step in it.
Not my Dave, he not only gives these people a place of refuge, but he treats them like human beings, which a lot of people have forgotten they are. He talks to them and shows an interest in them and lets them know that he is here for them. He helps them on the computer if they need it, or anything else they may need help with.
I know he grows impatient sometimes, I can see it in his face. And even when he confides to me that he is going to 'stop being so nice' I know that he can't. He is who he is supposed to be, he can't help it, it's his nature.
He inspires me to be a better person, and I can't think of a single person other than Dave who I would want to be my son's role model of what a real man should be.
What I want to share with Dave (and everyone) is this....your kindness can save people. That young man who I'm sure was interrupting your game tonight....he had no one else to talk to, nobody else in this world cares where he is right now or if he's safe, healthy, and fed. You gave him a precious gift that cost you nothing. I know you were getting a little annoyed, but the point is that he didn't know it, all he knew was that for a few minutes somebody was treating him the way a human being should be treated.
He is just one example, I see you do this with people over and over everyday. It doesn't go unnoticed, and maybe, hopefully, by your example others will decide to open themselves up a little bit more. We could really use more people like you in this world.