The sandwich man
Michael rises every morning at 4:00, in good and bad weather, and walks into his sandwich shop. By 5:50, he’s making the rounds of the shelters on Centre Streets. He ____1____ out 200 sandwiches to the homeless, before beginning his workday.
It started 20 years ago when Michael came across a homeless man named John. He began to help him ____2____effort then. Day after day, he brought John some food and, when it was really ____3____, a resting place in his car while he worked. Once he asked John if he wanted to get cleaned up. It was a(n) ____4____ offer, because Michael thought John would refuse. ____5____, John said, “Are you going to wash me?” Michael knew that he was looking at a ____6____of his promise. It was at the moment that Michael ____7____ to help the homeless.
Michael began his work. He received no sponsorship, saying, “I’m not getting media ____8____. I just want to do some good in my way. There are days when it’s snowing, and I have a hard time leaving my warm bed and the ____9____ of my family to go downtown with sandwiches. But I’ve ____10____.”
Michael makes 200 sandwiches every day for the past 20 years. “I don’t simply ____11____the sandwiches on a table for the homeless to pick up. I shake their hands and ____12____ them a good day,” says Michael. Once Mayor (市长) Koch came to make the rounds with him. They ____13____ the media, and it seemed like it was just the two of them. But of all Michael’s ____14____, working side by side with the Mayor was not as important as working next to someone else…
A man had ____15____from the sandwich takers, and Michael thought about him from time to time. He hoped the man had moved on to a more ____16____ environment. One day, the man came back, greeting Michael and ____17____sandwiches of his own to hand out. He said Michael’s daily food, warm handshakes and wishes had given him the ____18____ he badly needed. After achieving some success, he decided to do the same thing as Michael.
The moment needed no ____19____. The two men worked silently, side by side, handing out their sandwiches. It was another day on Centre Streets, but a day with just a little more ____20____.