After an unusually chaotic and intense morning of unloading 60 some school buses of some 3000 elementary school children and then loading them again after a 1 hour version of the Nutcracker ballet, before going to the office to prepare for the evening’s full performance, I was hungry.

In a world of super sized consumerism and marketing and corporate profits, I am usually reluctant to patronize the processed, fast food pig troughs. But I was exhausted and starving and didn’t have time to sit down to real food. (And sometimes… gads… one just gets a craving.) I entered one of the burger behemoths and ordered the signature sandwich “meal”… small. The young, squeaky voiced girl at the register told me that there was two for one and asked if I would like another burger. “Another one?” I asked wondering who could eat two of the things? And didn’t I order SMALL? Doesn’t that maybe infer that I probably wouldn’t want TWO signature burgers? “Yes, you get a free one… do you want the free one?” “Uh, no thanks.” She then looked past me over my shoulder and said “You could give it to a homeless…” I turned to follow her look and quickly scanned the room. College students, a couple of construction workers, a very out of place person in a nice suit and very evenly spaced throughout the dining area were people who were pretty obviously the individuals she was referring to. Most of them were watching our conversation. It dawned on me that this probably wasn’t the first time she had had this conversation that day. “I gave one to Jerry over there about an hour ago, but Walter might like one… oh wait, somebody gave Walter one a couple of hours ago…” I turned back and said, “I don’t know… can I just have the second burger and leave it here with you and you give it to the person you think needs it?” “Ok” she said, “I could just wait and give it to Jerry later, he’ll probably be ready for another one in a little while…“ She turned away to collect my order. I was struck by her efforts to help these people, by her thoughtfulness and the fact that she knew their names. I’m sure there were very few people who did. When she came back with my ‘meal” I thanked her for making the effort to help these people. And even more, to help me help these people. She didn’t have to explain it to me; she didn’t have to suggest I give the free burger to someone who really would appreciate it. It’s too easy to look past these people who need, it’s too easy to just dismiss the young person behind the counter at the fast food place as an underachiever. Of all the things I didn’t expect from such an establishment, such as good, healthy food, I certainly didn’t expect to be touched by such simple goodness and so tangibly by the spirit of Christmas.

There are good people doing good things all around us. You don’t need to build a hospital or a university to make a difference in the world… the little things can mean a lot to someone with simple needs.