A homeless woman, a customer and Anthony at the Chicago North Face store

by

Patti Dickinson

Here's a wonderful story of redemption.

Kathleen is living in Chicago, interning at her second theatre gig, The Eclipse. She recently found a job at The North Face Store. Her Outward Bound experiences and her love for the outdoors landed her the job (and maybe the look of desperation on her face helped!!!). On Thursday, a "regular" came in. This is a homeless woman who the store sees on a regular basis. She has some mental deficiencies. No comprehension of basic addition or concept of money. She comes in and tries on clothes. She doesn't try on shoes/boots, though. Her feet are bloody from blisters and wet from the elements. While she was going through her try-on routine, another customer asked Anthony, one of the North Face employees about the woman. The customer listened and said he wanted to buy her a pair of shoes. Anthony said, "You know that these shoes are $150+ right?" He knew. So Kathleen and Anthony worked for the next half hour finding this homeless woman the perfect pair of shoes. North Face threw in a 25% discount and several pairs of nice warm socks. And the customer spent more on this stranger than he did on himself.

The woman left the store, stopping people as she walked toward the door to her life on the street, showing everyone her new shoes.

This story needs no conclusion or editorializing. No, this one stands on its own.