If you’ve ever seen someone sitting on the side of the street down on their luck, don’t be too quick to judge. You don’t know the circumstances that brought them there or the integrity of their character.
Johnny Cook didn’t stop to judge the tattooed fellow he found in a parking lot and was presently surprised with the character he met.
“I’ve been asking for farm labor help this week,” Cook wrote on social media. ” I’ve had a few projects going here at home and just needed a few extra hands to complete em. Fortunately, my sons Caldon Cook and Dillon Cook came through for me and helped the last few days.”
Before the men got to work they had to pick up some sod and stopped for lunch when they stopped a gentleman covered in tattoos.
“Yesterday, we had to go pick up some materials in town,” Cook explains. “So we stopped for lunch at the waffle house. As we were sitting there this guy walks up in the parking lot and sits down on the side walk. You could tell he was hitch hiking or just homeless. He was covered from the top of his head to his toes in tattoos, and weathered by the sun.”
While those who were inside the waffle house started to make verbal judgments about the man, Cook decided to extend a kindness to the man who seemed to be down on his luck.
“There were a few folks inside and they began to talk,” Cook wrote. “‘Look at this guy. What the hell is he doin?’ Etc. I looked out our window at him. I knocked on the window to get his attention. With hand gestures I ask, ‘Are you hungry?’ He nodded yes. I motioned for him to come inside. He did. I told him to order a meal. I would take care of the bill. He said, ‘Are you sure?’ I said, ‘Absolutely.’ He said ‘Sir, I appreciate it.’ I told the waitress give him what he wants. He sat at a table alone. His food arrived and before digging in as you may thought a hungry man would, he gave thanks to God for his meal.”
After eating the meal that Cook bought him, the man decided to reveal a little bit about himself.
“He then said to me, ‘I haven’t always been homeless. And I know I look strange to people with all these tattoos. Man, I’ve been hunting a job but people take one look at me and say no way.’ I said, ‘Do you really wanna work?’ He said ‘Yes sir, I need to work.’ I said, ‘Where are you staying?’ He said, ‘I’m sleeping on some church porches around here.’ I said, ‘Well tomorrow I’m laying 10 pallets of sod. If you will be at this waffle house at 7:45 in the morning you can work with us.’ He said, ‘I’ll be there.’ He said, ‘Can I tell you something? I said, ‘Sure.’ He said, ‘I have not eaten in a few days. And I kept asking the Lord what to do.’ He said the Lord told him to come sit there and wait. I paid for his meal and assured him I would see him in the morning.”
The man was there, ready for work, the next day. And despite his appearance, he was a hard and humble worker.
“Well, sure enough, Caldon Cook went and picked him up this morning. He said, ‘Mr. Johnny, I’ve never laid sod but I’ll work hard.’ I said ‘All I ask is you be straight clean and respectful.’ He said ‘I’m more than that.’ He worked all day with us laying sod. We went to lunch. He prayed again. We came back and finished the job. He worked his heart out and was proud of what we had accomplished. I paid him and took him to a local motel. Where he can stay the night and I’ll pick him up again tomorrow.”
Cook says the encounter with the man was a good experience for his and his children.
“Everyone has a story. Maybe not the same as mine or yours. A man on a curb is not always looking for a handout sometimes they just need help up. I’m certain my boys will always remember this.”
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