A nomadic videographer’s honest interaction with a homeless man has gone viral on TikTok after the former invited the latter to eat with him in his car.
On February 1, Phillip Vu, a recent college graduate and former bank analyst, posted a video in which he and the 46-year-old man – identified only as Mike – shared stories while eating together in the car.
Vu explained that Mike, who often hangs out at Mamoun’s Falafel outside Yale University in New Haven, Conn., Had offered to clean his car windows in freezing weather. So Vu bought him food and invited him to sit in his car.
However, what the graduate “never expected” was that the two would open up to each other.
“How did you become homeless?” Vu asks Mike in a TikTok that has since gotten over 1.7 million views.
Mike responds by saying his mother had passed away, forcing him to survive alone.
“I do what I have to do,” he says. “I walk around and ask people if I can pump their gas, do their windows, make honest money.”
Mike then asks Vu about himself, to which Vu reveals that he had lost a parent.
“When I was younger, my father died,” says Vu. ‘I didn’t know what I was doing. I just finished my studies, so I started traveling the world. I just live in my car, play guitar everywhere. “
In a follow-up TikTok, Mike says his mother passed away about a year ago.
“I’m still fighting the fight,” he says. “Things are happening in life that you can’t stop.”
In response, Vu then shares a deeply personal story in which he ran into a motionless man in the middle of the street at Christmas while it was raining.
“I’ll run there,” says Vu. The man has no color in his eyes at all. It was completely white. I’ve never seen anyone overdose. He had no arm. I pump his chest, and the ambulance comes and they just take him away. I don’t know why it was really sad because it was Christmas and he should be with his family if he has family. “
After Vu tells Mike that he called his friends to confront what he saw, Mike shares a few wise words.
“God sent you that way,” he tells the California resident. “You have a good spirit in your heart.”
Mike then tries to reassure Vu by saying he “might have saved [the man’s] life.”
“I might have saved his life,” Vu says, facing the camera. ‘I beat myself up over the past month because of this situation. Thanks to Mike for changing my perspective. “
A longer version of Vu’s interaction with Mike – posted to YouTube a day later – shows the two having a nearly 10-minute conversation. At one point, Mike tells Vu that he often stays with his friends. He also adds that on his best days, he offers about $ 15 to help others.
Social media users have since praised the two men’s open conversation.
“This is so great,” commented one TikTok user.
“This is so inspiring,” added another. “As if you are seriously showing that there are still good people in the world, please keep spreading kindness.”
Vu has since started a GoFundMe in favor of Mike, where he has raised more than $ 3,100.
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The post A Graduate Struggled With a Traumatic Memory Until Inviting a Stranger to His Car first appeared on In The Know.
Originally published