Sometimes the severe lack of empathy and humanity displayed by some people astounds me. How hard is it to be nice to someone who’s been dealt a bad deal by life? Why do we have to be assholes when we could just as easily be the person who made someone’s day better. Even the smallest kind gestures can make a big impact on how a person’s day is going. And yet, some people choose to take the other route.
An employee at a Dunkin’ Donuts is a perfect example for the type of people I’m referring to here. The way he acted to a homeless man is just deplorable.
Jeremy Dufresne is a schizophrenic who has been homeless since high school. He sleeps outside most days and has most of his meals at the Samaritan Center on North Salina Street.
According to Syracuse.com, he sometimes steps into a Dunkin’ Donuts store on North Salina Street to charge his phone and get some warmth.
While charging his phone so as to call his mom to tell her goodnight as he does every evening, he put his head down on the table for a bit.
However, he was in for a rude awakening when one of the employees there poured a jug of water on him while another filmed the incident laughing.
As Jeremy jumps up gathering his things, the Dunkin’ employee says “How many times have I got to tell you to stop sleeping in here?” Not wanting to create a scene, Jeremy leaves without saying a word.
You can watch the despicable act of the employees in this video that was initially posted on Facebook by those involved:
https://www.facebook.com/sam.breazeale.7/videos/1544473102321500/
However, their attempt at getting a laugh out of it backfired as people outraged at the inhumane way in which they acted towards a homeless man.
As for Jeremy, this is what he says about the man who poured the water on him:
“He probably had some personal problems of his own and needed someone to talk to. And he took it out on someone else, like me.”
See, that right there is empathy. Instead of harbouring feelings of anger towards the man, Jeremy finds it in himself to justify the man’s actions. He adds that others workers are usually nice to him and even give him food and drinks from time to time. All they ask is that he not disturb customers, which he doesn’t.
While Jeremy may have let it go, homeless advocates have come forward to support him. They’ve called for boycotting the store and netizens are also raising their voices for the dismissal of the employees.
Dunkin Donuts in #Syracuse is new flashpoint on homelessness after video apparently shows store worker dump water on sleeping homeless man to get him to leave.
Photo: Cheryl Neri pic.twitter.com/EQUwJSY71h— Michael Benny (@MichaelBenny) October 1, 2018
As per a report by News 18, a person who shared the video on Facebook also set up a Go Fund Me Campaign of ₹11,000 in order to buy Jeremy a new set of clothes, a meal and phone charger.
The campaign, however, has raised over ₹15 lakh in just two days. This gives me some hope that while some may choose to beat down on those having a hard time, there is still some good left in the world. Be one of the good ones people. Trust me, it’s an amazing feeling to not be an asshole.