Humanity LIVES on.......................

Homeless girl tries to enter Flury’s

The other day I was at Flury’s on Park Street. As I was walking towards the restaurant, a tall and well-dressed man with his son entered with a six-year old homeless girl. Immediately, one guard started whistling. Another guard made this "click-click" sound with his tongue (a uniquely Indian sound) to signify that the customer was doing something inappropriate.

A manager walked to the door and said, "This cannot be done."

The customer said, "Why not? I am a paying customer. I am going to buy her some food."

The manager responded, "No she cannot come in. She is not dressed appropriately."

So the man went in and the girl waited outside, ruefully looking in. I walked inside and noticed that the man was speaking with the head manager of the store. The head manager firmly stated, "We reserve the right of admission here."

The man said, "But she is a human being."

And the boss retorted, "I know she is but we legally reserve the right of admission here."

Some of the patrons noticed the conversation, but most people went about business as usual.

The man bought a pastry for his son and for the girl, and then left the restaurant.

I later learned that he is a journalist from Delhi. He explained the whole story: he had left a different restaurant on the same street, and the girl had asked him for some money. He told her, "I will not give you money, but I will give you food." She agreed and he wanted to take her to Flury's. That plan did not work, as she was denied admission. But she did get her pastry in the end.

While this is a sad story, which did left me dazed ,because it is about one of the many apartheids in India, it also has a happy ending. That girl ate what may have been the best treat of her life.