A friend and I helped a homeless man. I shall call him “Rory,” and he was actually 21. My friend Jenn was talking to him online. He lived in the Radford area until his parents kicked him out because he was 21. He was in the library, using instant messaging trying to get help from a local Radford student. At first I took it at face value, thinking it could be some guy looking for a free meal or some cash. People can be like that, greedy, self-interested and constantly at war with each other, just like Thomas Hobbes said in Leviathan.

Then Jenn and I met a very lonely man outside of Muse Hall one evening, frowning through a cigarette. His first words to us were, “Thank you so much.” He had no idea what we looked like, but he knew who we were in an instant.

He had no food, no shelter, no change of clothes, no money, just his Self. He had only been in this situation for a few days or so, but I can't imagine the experience being anything but traumatic for him, or for anyone who thought they had support and love from a family. I can’t begin to put myself in his place.

He told us his parents didn’t want to have anything to do with him. They wouldn’t let him come home for anything, basically saying “you’re on your own because you’re 21, and we don’t care.” Obviously children are not always a reflection of their parents.

Jenn and I took him to dinner, and, as he ate, commercials for Christmas music compilations played on the television. It was wrenching to see the mother light the candles in her daughter's eyes as Bing Crosby crooned and Judy Collins moaned. I wonder what Christmas is like for Rory. Rory just smiled and ate his food, periodically laughing at stupid commercials for things he may never be able to afford. He knew the power of his situation, and yet he still had a sense of humor.

That is human spirit--an even stronger one than usual because in no way could it have stemmed from his shoddy parents who do not deserve the honor of being called "parents." He told me his mother slapped him when he was seven and called him “a mistake” and that his father offered him a gun to shoot himself with. I could smell his honesty like a thunderstorm. I had never really interacted with someone who had been in such misfortune. More so than I do now, I realize just how privileged I am…how privileged everyone is, whether on welfare or the Fortune 500. It’s more than what Rory had right then. To see him have a level head, a sense of gratitude and motivation…that’s truly inspiring.