Under Rooster’s Shadow

My daily brushes with the neighborhood rooster, brought to mind another Rooster I encountered many years ago. It was a beautiful spring day, and I was working the northern tip of my territory. I had one more sales appointment to make before lunch, so I parked under a shade tree and opened my car door to catch the cooling cross breeze and reviewed my notes before heading into the office.

As I was sitting in the driver’s seat I was making one more note, I suddenly felt this dark presence. Literally it was a large shadow looming and when I looked up, it was a man approaching me. He was only a few feet away and moving closely in my direction. I was startled, but I immediately spoke out very loudly and with the deepest most confident voice I could muster “Don’t Come Any Closer!” I bellowed. “Step Away From My Car!”.

The man hesitated and stopped abruptly. I felt a mixture of fear and relief, assuming that the authoritative manner in which I addressed him startled him, catching him off guard. Then the most peculiar thing happened. As he stood there, he meekly said “I’m sorry, it’s just that I am hungry.”

I scanned him over, he was tall, at least 6 feet, thin with leathered skin, blood shot eyes and blonde hair, almost yellow from extreme sun exposure. Wearing a worn out t-shirt and jeans, he stood close enough that I could smell the alcohol, it was as if every pore in his body was emitting pure grain alcohol. He appeared to be in his fifties or sixties, but clearly he had had a hard life, so he may have been younger.

After visually assessing him and potential threat, I spoke sternly to him and said “You can’t approach a woman in her car like that.” He continued to stand, head down a bit and appearing rather sheepish. He again humbly repeated, ” I am hungry.” I looked at him and then saw that right next to my parking lot was a McDonalds. I said to him, I am heading to an appointment, but when I am done, I will buy you lunch, pointing to the fast food restaurant.

I grabbed my gear, locked up my car and headed to the office. I stood equal, or perhaps even a bit taller than the man dressed in my suit and 4 inch heals. I no longer felt threatened. I rushed into the office, hoping I was not late, and in my mind, I anticipated that the man would have moved on by the time I finished up.

The appointment took longer, as the office was running behind schedule, a good 20-30 minutes passed before exiting the office. I actually had pretty much forgotten about the encounter, as I was piecing together the notes I would make regarding the sales call. As I approached my car, there he stood under the tree. I was surprised, I assumed he would wander on and find someone else to appeal to for money. I was sure he just wanted drugs or alcohol.

I knew that I told him I would buy him lunch, so I put my work materials away and we walked to the nearby restaurant. As we walked, I lectured him again “You aren’t going to have much success approaching women that way. In fact, most women would call the cops.” He politely said that I was right, and I was intrigued by his calm and humble demeanor.

As we approached the entrance to the restaurant, I asked him his name. He said “The guys call me Rooster, but you can call me Mike.” Again he had what appeared to be a genuinely humble attitude. I almost felt as though something sacred occurred as he shared with me his actual first name.

We entered the restaurant, and now that it was lunch hour, it was packed. We stood at the back of a busy line, and I could feel the looks. Here I was in my suit with this man who obviously appeared to be homeless, and then there was the pronounced smell of alcohol.

I bought him lunch, and as we walked out, Rooster/Mike thanked me and headed north. I went back to my car in a very humbled state myself. There was something, I cannot put my finger on, about this Rooster encounter. It brought to my mind the scripture verse
” And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.” Matthew 10:42

I don’t know anything about Rooster, but I sensed that God was working on my heart and truly teaching me humility. After that encounter, every time I worked that part of my territory, I would look for Rooster, hoping to see him and engage him again. But to no avail, Rooster had flown the coop.