Boy Mocks Poor Woman Who Collects Cans, Pays Her Respect after His Mom Arrives & Recognizes Her — Story of the Day

Brian approached a trashcan to get rid of his empty soda can and saw a homeless woman. He started mocking her until his mother got out of the car and recognized the lady. Then she revealed the most outrageous story.

Brian was waiting for his mother, Madeleine, to pick him up at a local diner where he was hanging out with his friends. Instead of waiting outside the restaurant, he walked a few steps further to throw his empty soda can in the trashcan on the side of the building.

They lived in Orlando, Florida, and Brian had a great group of friends from school. But he was still 13, so his mother had to pick him up. He couldn't wait until he was 16 and got his driver's license to have so much more independence.

Brian walked toward a trashcan to throw out an empty soda can while waiting for his mom to pick him up. | Source: Pexels

His mother ran a successful business in the area, and he had never known any struggle, except that he didn't have a father. Sometimes, he wondered why or what happened to him, but the teenager had yet to ask his mother about it. He was too afraid of what he would discover. Besides, it didn't truly matter.

"Hey, boy. Can you give me that can?" a voice distracted him from thoughts of his father, and Brian looked up in surprise. His face wrinkled in disgust when he saw the person who had spoken to him.

A dirty, disheveled woman was right in front of him. She held several trash bags in one hand, but her other hand was extended to him. Brian tried to remember what she had said but couldn't because he was so disgusted.

"What?" he questioned. The disdain was evident on his face.

"The can, boy. I collect cans. Can you please give it to me instead of throwing it in the trash can? It's hard to reach because it's so big and empty right now," the woman continued, looking expectantly at Brian.

The woman was shocked by Brian's attitude when she had only asked for something politely. | Source: Pexels

Finally, the teenager snapped out of his initial shock and addressed the woman, his voice dripping scorn. "Eww. What makes you think you can talk to me?"

"Excuse me?" the woman asked in confusion.

"You're probably used to being surrounded by garbage all the time. Is this your natural habitat? I'm not going to give you anything! Get away from me before I call the police!" Brian continued, sneering at the lady.

The woman stood there staring at the boy in complete shock. Not everyone was friendly to homeless people and beggars, but this kid's attitude was horrible. She couldn't believe someone had raised such a rude young man, and she was about to give him a few words before a car pulled up beside them.

"Mom, I'm glad you're here. This woman is hitting on me. Ewww, she's crazy! Call the police immediately!" Brian stated, his face finally changing from contempt to evil amusement. He looked at his mother, who was staring at him from behind her glasses. "Mom! Didn't you hear me? This lady is crazy!"

Madeleine turned off her car engine and got out. She walked around her vehicle, and her heels clicked through the pavement as she approached her son and the strange woman.

To Brian's shock, his mother got out of the car and had a few words for him. | Source: Pexels

"Brian, what are you doing?" she asked her son in her gentlest tone possible. But Brian knew his mother was angry, and he had no idea at who.

Madeleine took off her glasses and looked directly at the homeless woman. Her words that followed shocked the teenager. "Ma'am, I'm very sorry about his attitude. Can you tell me what happened?"

"Mom!" Brian whined, but his mother ignored him.

"I was just asking him for his soda can, and well…" she trailed off.

"I see," Madeleine muttered and looked at her son with pursed lips. Reaching into her pocket, she took out a couple of dollar bills and grabbed the homeless woman's hand tightly to give her the money. Please, accept this as my apology. I did not raise him to be this way. He will be punished."

"It's fine. But thank you for this," the woman said and smiled for the first time at Madeleine, whose eyes widened in astonishment. "What?"

"Anna? Is that you?" she asked out of the blue, and the homeless woman was surprised that this wealthy lady knew her name.

"Yes, who are you?" Anna asked, still surprised.

In the car, Madeleine started scolding Brian for his actions. | Source: Pexels

"It's me, Madeleine. You helped me years ago, remember? I was holding a baby and had nothing. And you gave me bus fare so I could go to Miami," Brian's mother revealed, shocking her son even further.

The women talked for a while, and the teenager saw his mother return to her car, reach for her purse, and get some more bills out. She gave them to Anna, as well as her phone number.

"Promise to call me if you need anything. Come on, Brian. You and I need to talk," Madeleine turned and gestured for Brian to get in the car.

Brian looked at the lady with confused, fearful eyes and muttered, "I'm sorry," showing her respect for the first time.

When Madeleine started driving, Brian spoke up. "Mom! What happened back there?"

"Brian, first of all, I did not raise you to treat people the way you were treating that lady. I heard the last thing you said to her, and it was horrible! I can't believe such words would come out of your mouth. But what was worse is that that was Anna," Madeleine scolded, her tone even despite being angry at her son.

Years ago, Madeleine went through something and met Anna. | Source: Pexels

"Who's Anna?" he asked, knowing he had made a big mistake considering how calm his mother was. She usually yelled when she got mad, but this careful, gentle tone was scary.

"You've never asked me about your father. Years ago, he threw me out of our house. Well, us. He just did it. And I had no power to stop him. I had no money to my name. Nothing. I was just out, and I had no idea what to do," his mother revealed, shocking Brian even more. "And you know who helped me? Anna. She was begging for money, and she saw me crying with a baby in my arms and asked what had happened to me."

Brian stared at his lap in silence. He wanted to know what else happened. "How did she help you?"

"She gave me all the money she earned that day, so I could take a bus to Miami, where a friend of mine lived. I don't even know if she had eaten at all that day, but she gave me the money without me asking for it. Just because she knew I needed help," Madeleine explained. "And now, I have my own business, my own life, and you have not seen struggle at all. That's how I wanted it to be. But I didn't realize I had spoiled you."

"No, Mom. I'm not spoiled!"

Brian strived to be a good person and never mistreated anyone ever again.| Source: Pexels

"The way you acted… I mean, and that's just what I heard. I can't even imagine what you said to her before I arrived. I'm so disappointed in you," she added, shaking her head but focusing on the road.

Brian started to cry silently through the rest of the drive. That night, Madeleine took away his electronics, and a few days later, she made him apologize to Anna. She also offered Anna a job at her company, which helped change her life forever.

The teenager showed respect to Anna whenever he saw her at his mother's workplace and never treated anyone else badly again. The disappointment on his mother's face had been more punishing than losing his electronics. He always strived to make her proud and realized that he judged someone harshly, not knowing how great a person she was.

What can we learn from this story?

• Never judge someone based on their looks and their circumstances. Brian mocked a poor homeless lady, acting like a spoiled child. But then he discovered the truth about her and realized he was wrong.
• Most people hate disappointing their parents more than anything. Brian hated that his mother was disappointed in him more than anything else, and he strived to change for the better.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a boy who mocked his poor mother until she was taken away due to an emergency and he found a piece of paper with her handwriting.

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