HOT TOPIC | CAPITALS INSIDER
A Quiet Act of Generosity
Capitals owner Ted Leonsis, helping his fellow man.
(By Kevin Clark -- The Washington Post)
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I was sipping my Starbucks in the waiting area at Union Station yesterday morning when Ted Leonsis walked in by himself. We talked for a few minutes, then we headed to the train. I was traveling to New York to cover last night's Capitals-Rangers game, Ted was going to Philadelphia for a business meeting and to see his son, who goes to school at Penn.
As we walked to the track entrance, a homeless man who was seated on the floor mumbled something in our general direction. The crowd kept moving, and so did I. But Ted stopped and asked the man to repeat what he had just said. Stunned by this, I looked around and stopped, too.
Ted put down his bag, reached for his wallet and, as he did this, noticed the man was not wearing any shoes.
"What happened to your shoes?" Ted asked him.
The man, who was old and appeared to be disabled, told Ted, "Somebody stole them." Ted said, "What?" The man said it again. Ted handed the guy a big bill (I didn't see how big). But before he gave it to him, he said, "Promise me you are going to buy shoes with this, okay?" The man nodded and said very quietly, "Thank you."
"This is America, right?" Ted said to me moments later as he boarded the first-class car (I was in business so we e-mailed each other between the cars). "How does he not have shoes? Incredible."
Funny how the Capitals owner, the wealthiest man on the train, was the only one -- that I noticed anyway -- to stop and help a fellow human in need. But then, Leonsis did finance the 2006 documentary "Kickin' It," about the Homeless World Cup.
I know this has nothing to do with hockey, but I thought I would share it anyway.
-- Tarik El-Bashir
