INDEPENDENT- A woman was left “mortified” in McDonalds after she bought a man eating tomato ketchup a meal because she believed he was homeless – only to discover he was an ordinary customer waiting for his meal.
Claire Varin, 33, was buying breakfast in McDonalds in Halifax town centre when she saw an unshaven man with a rucksack sat at a table eating ketchup from the sauce dispenser.
Fearing he was homeless and hungry, she decided to buy him a meal.
As she placed it in front of him, a member of staff brought over another meal and apologised to the man for the wait.
She said: “To be honest, my imagination ran away with me. ‘Had this poor man been out on the streets all night? Was this the only food he would eat all day?’
“Maybe he had no money and was starving. I thought only desperation could lead someone to eat ketchup.
“I felt really sorry for him. It was a very cold morning and I thought how can I sit here with this meal and leave him sat there with just ketchup?
“He must have been sat there for a good 10 minutes so I assumed he hadn’t ordered and had just come in from the cold.”
She said she felt fantastic that in some way she had helped the man, but left the restaurant as quickly as she could when she discovered he was an ordinary customer.
She added: “I really enjoy a McDonald’s breakfast now and again, but I think I’ll have to give that store a miss in the mornings in case I see that man again.”
This is hardly what I would consider a news story that needs publication, but that don’t mean it ain’t blog-able. Look, I don’t want to come off as a cynical asshole. I’m a nice guy. I do charitable things when i see a cause that I find interesting or hits me emotionally. But what I don’t do is make my self feel like I’m a self important asshole who wants to be seen as a better person for helping. I’m not looking to be applauded. I’m looking to going on with my day with out any complications. I almost despise these people that want to help everyone with their hands out. Well now you kind of just look like an asshole for assuming he’s a bum. And don’t get me wrong, I think in a 9 out of 10 times if you were to ask if you thought a guy with a beard raggy clothes and a rucksack eating ketchup out of a dispenser for 10 minutes, was poor or not, they would say yes. But the world is a fucked up place. A lot of people are poor and giving a guy one MickyD’s breakfast doesn’t change a thing just because you want to be one of those Random Acts of Kindness people. And sometimes there are weirdos who just eat ketchup like its water. C’est la Vie.
The Ugly Orange 