I Watched a Young Girl Teach Her Father a Lesson About Humanity – by Caleb Noal

I posted this on my personal Facebook page, it was something that I experienced firsthand and wish to share it with my fellow New Yorkers.

I just witnessed one of the most moving acts of kindness in NYC.

A young girl (no more than 4 or 5-years of age) and her father walked into a McDonald’s that I was sitting in. There was a homeless man sitting outside asking for change. The girl asked her father if she could give him some money for food.

Her father said no and told the girl that the man should just “buck up and get a job”.

They got their food and sat down. After they got settled the father got up and went to the bathroom. The girl got up, grabbed her happy meal and took it outside to the homeless man.

Her father came back to see that her happy meal was gone, he got agitated and said “Where did your food go?”.

She said nothing. He asked again, more upset this time.

She answered “I gave it to the man outside”.

He started to reprimand her for it and she stood up on her chair and yelled “It’s not fair that you’re yelling at me, I gave that man my food because he needs it more than I do. You and mommy have lots of money and we have lots of food at home.”

An old woman walked up and handed the girl her wedding ring.

She looked at the father, then back to the girl and said “You have a kind heart like my husband did. You take this as a token of my appreciation and never lose that kindness.”

Naturally, the father tried to refuse this offer. However, the old woman insisted that the child would have far more use of it than she would.

I have never seen such an intense display of humanity in this city.

Caleb Noal is a writer at Group Sessions:The Musical and a screenwriter.

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