text: May 30th, 2016 The Little Things “Mommy, can we go get some candy?” “No, not today. Maybe tomorrow we can go.” “But mommy!” “I said no Sarah.” Sarah groaned and headed to her room and closed the door behind her. Her mother sighed then went on with her daily task, cleaning the house. She vacuumed, washed the dishes, re-organized the bookshelves, and made the beds. By the time she was done all this it was 4:00 PM. She glanced at the clock. “Oh shit! I have to go to my interview soon.” She went over to her purse, opened it, and called the babysitter. Sarah was in her room playing with her dolls when her mother came in the room and told her the babysitter was coming. She kissed her daughter goodbye and left the house. Allyson was off to her first interview. She’d never had a job before, so this was a new thing for her and she was quite nervous. She looked at the time on her phone. 4:10 PM. Her interview is at 4:20 so she assumed she would have enough time to make it on time. She walked down her street, down another, and finally arrived on the street where her interview is. She was headed for the Tim Hortons door until she saw a poor man lying in a patch of grass. His clothes were rugged and covered in dirt. For a moment she just stood there looking at the man, until the man got up and looked over at her. She quickly turned away and went inside Tim Hortons. She checked the time again. 4:18, two minutes early. She noticed her boss in the back interviewing another women. The conversation seemed to be going well. Allyson began to feel like she would screw this interview up completely. Maybe this women was better than her. The interview ended and Allyson quickly put those thoughts to rest. Her boss noticed Allyson and called her to the back. Now it’s her turn to get interviewed. Allyson shook the boss’ hand and they both sat down. The boss started off with small talk, then got down to business. He asked a lot of questions, but Allyson realised it wasn’t as bad as she thought it’d be. The interview went by quickly and Allyson left with very high hopes. She knew she would get this job. As she was leaving she noticed that the homeless man was gone. She got home, and sent the babysitter on her way. The next day she got a call from her boss saying that she got the job. She went to work the day after, and the next day, and the next day after that. Each day she’d notice the homeless man outside of Tim Hortons. After weeks and weeks of working, one day at work she decided to buy the man a coffee and a bagel. She walked up to him and said “Hey, I got you some food. You like coffee and bagels?” The man smiled and replied “Yes, I love coffee and bagels. Thank you.” The next few days she kept getting the man coffee and bagels, each day he would very graciously accept the food and drink. One day she went to work, and by the end of her shift she went to give the man his coffee and bagel but he was nowhere to be found. She searched everywhere around Tim Hortons, but could not find him. “Are you looking for the old homeless man?” Allyson turned around and saw one of her fellow employees, Emily. “Do you know where he is?” replied Allyson. “I heard he was shot and killed last night sometime after your shift.” said Emily. Allyson dropped the coffee and bagel, then slowly walked home. As she was walking she thought of what she did to help him. She knew that it’s the little things that matter and at least she tried to help him.