A homeless guy on the street gave me the best advice I’ve ever got

I (30M) was walking with my girlfriend (28F) from our hotel to the restaurant in another hotel for breakfast. We were walking on the street on the way to our hotel so there were lots of people passing by, workers going to their jobs, tourists, etc. Suddenly my girlfriend stopped and said “look at that guy” and I followed her sight and saw a homeless guy sitting on the bench with his backpack on the floor next to him. He was probably in his mid 40s, tall, white guy. He wasn’t doing anything, just sitting there. I was a bit surprised and asked why she was looking at him. She said “did you see that? A man passed by him and dropped $20 dollars next to him on the bench and didn’t even say hi or anything”. I looked again but there was no sign of the man dropping the money again so I assume my gf was right. I said “oh wow that’s mean” and my girlfriend got really upset and said “I know right, you would think at least they could say hi or something. Or maybe that’s not even real money and it was drug money or something idk but still, they could at least say hi”. I asked her if she wanted to give some money to the homeless guy and she said yes. I said “ok let’s do it”. I got up and walked to the homeless guy. When I got closer he looked up at me with a bit scared face. I couldn’t really see his face clearly because he had long hair so I couldn’t make out any features. I said “hello, I know it’s embarrassing to ask for money but me and my girlfriend wanted to give you some money”. The homeless guy got up from the bench immediately and said “thank you so much” and I repeated what I said before but this time with a bit more detail. I said “exactly, I mean I don’t think it’s right for people to just pass by you and drop money next to you and not even say anything. I guess they think you’re gonna be high or something but I know that’s not the case. I know you can totally use this money, I saw you getting up from the bench when I approached you so you’re clearly not high or in a zombie mode. You’re able to interact with people and that means you’re in your right mind and can use this money. You deserve this money because you’re a human being and you’re struggling and you deserve a break”. The homeless guy said “thank you so much you don’t know how much this means to me. People just pass by me all the time and drop money next to me and don’t even say anything. Sometimes people yell at me or insult me but I haven’t been this happy in a long time so thank you so much”. I replied “don’t mention it buddy, I know how it feels. In my country, Iran, I had to flee for my life after the regime arrested my dad for speaking up against them. I was 16 years old back then and I had to walk to Turkey by myself, with nothing but a small bag with some money, clothes and food. Luckily I made it but it was a really scary and hard time for me and I know how it feels. You’re a human being who deserves a break, you deserve help, you deserve to be treated nicely and I know it doesn’t happen to you a lot but I hope it happens more often to you from now on because you deserve it”. The homeless guy cried and said “thank you so much. You’re a good person and I appreciate what you said to me. Nobody talks to me like that so thank you”. I said “don’t mention it buddy, you’re a good person too and I’m sure you’re a great dad and a good person in general. I hope things get better for you and you find a job or something. You should try to find a job man, if you’re willing I can help you with your CV and stuff, and I hope you get one soon. You deserve it man, you deserve a better life and I hope you get it soon. You deserve it”. I turned back to my girlfriend and said “you see, I told you he’s in his right mind, look at how he’s talking to me, he’s not high man, he’s just a victim of the economy and stuff”. My girlfriend got even more emotional than before and said “yeah I knew it, poor guy. I wish I had more money to give him”. I said “don’t worry I’ve got you, I’ve got $20 more than you so I can give him another $20 and we can both give him $40. Is that a good number for you?”. She said “yeah that’s a great number. You should give him another $20”. I said “okay, here” and gave the homeless guy another $20. The homeless guy said “thank you so much again you’re a good person”. I said “don’t mention it man, I hope you get a job soon, call me if you need help with your CV or anything”. I turned back to my girlfriend and said “you see, I told you he’s in his right mind, he’s not a criminal who just robs people, he’s a victim and you can tell from how he talks to you. Also he didn’t smell bad at all which is a good sign. Usually homeless people smell really bad”. My girlfriend said “yeah I know you’re right, I’m glad we gave him money”. I replied “me too babe, I’m really glad we did it. You did a great thing today”. She smiled and I added “I know you did it for him but you did a great thing for yourself too. You know why? Because I’m really proud of you for doing this and I love your heart. It’s so kind and I’m really proud of you. I don’t know how many times I’ve got to say this but you did a great job today and I’m really proud of you. I love your heart and I’m so proud of you”. She got emotional and said “thank you” and I replied “you’re welcome babe. I’m really proud of you. You’re an amazing woman and I’m glad I met you. I hope that guy is really grateful for this and has his life changed somehow because of this, that would be great and I hope that happens”. <br><br>We walked to the restaurant and had our breakfast and I was really proud of my girlfriend for doing this and I love her for her kindness and I’m so proud of her and I told her that too. <br><br>Two hours later we decided to go back to our hotel so we started walking back and guess what? The homeless guy was still there, sitting on the same bench, but now there were two more people next to him, two more homeless people. I couldn’t tell if they were together or not because I couldn’t see their faces but one of them had a dog with him. We passed by and as we were passing by I heard one of the homeless guys say “look at that, a man gave me money and talked to me like a human being”. The other homeless guy said “yeah I know right, that was a really kind man. I wish more people were like that”. I turned back to my girlfriend and said “did you hear that? The money I gave him triggered something and now these two guys feel good and hopeful. That was a great investment on my end”. <br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>&#x200B;