Life Lesions and Events can sometimes be the best teacher that you will have. Events can change the choices that you do in life and can shape you as a person. You will use life lesions for the rest of your life and determines what kind of person you will be.

Back at the young age of 11 my family and I were down in Detroit for an art show. As we were exploring the city, I noticed the city was a dump. There was garbage down the alleyways and it smelt like smoke. Around every corner and alleyway I would see a homeless person. I figured to stay away from them because I figured they probably were not the best people and haven’t exactly done the best things in life. Every homeless person I would see I would think to myself. How can these cowards think they can get through life begging and not even attempt to take care of themselves. They all were acting like a bunch of begging dogs and were getting nowhere in life by giving up.
After seeing a dozen or so homeless scrounging food and money from people. I noticed this one homeless man sitting against an alleyway wall that was mosey and disgusting. The man was most likely in his late 20s and was wearing a torn up brown sweater and shoes with almost no soles. It seemed as if the clothing has been worn for a few days and he most likely didn’t own another pair or didn’t have much money to spare to buy new clothing. But this one particular homeless man was sitting there playing a saxophone all day hoping that some person would be willing to drop a dollar in his hat. I studied the man for a minute and I started to feel guilt and pity for the man. He was acting like a honest working American. This homeless man was using the few skills he had to get through the day and was doing his part in society. This man kept on fighting and was trying to work for his money. This man would not give up and that he would do what it takes as an honest man to get through the day.

I pulled a single dollar from my pocket, walked up to the man, and dropped it in his hat. The man stopped his music and looked up at me. “Thank you boy, that dollar will go a long way for me.” He said these words to me in a real soft tone. Being at the young age I was at, I was shy and ran off.

Unlike all the other homeless who gave up and were getting nowhere and acting like a lost child. This man was playing his music to get through the day. After this event it hit me. You got to give it all you got to make it through the hard parts of life. You need to keep fighting and working like your life depends on it. If I don’t I could end up just like them. This man showed me what I don’t want to become in life, but instead to keep finding something to work for in life.

Today I look back at the event I wish that I would have talked to the man longer. I could of asked why he was wasn’t taking advantage of everybody like the other homeless men. The man did teach me a lesion when I was 11 that I still use today. I work hard in school and got a job over the summer so that I don’t end up like him or the other men of the city.