IHOP manager shares meal, talks with lonely homeless man

CARPINTERIA, Calif. — The general manager of an IHOP restaurant in California was recently caught doing a good deed for a man in need.

A photo of Kelly Urquhart offering food and conversation to a homeless man has now been shared on Facebook hundreds of times.

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On Monday, customers told Urquhart about a homeless man sitting on the grass outside the restaurant, so Urquhart went to check on him.

"I walked out there and I pushed the guy on the shoulder and right away he looks up at me and he goes, 'Hey!' And he got like, real nervous. He says, 'I'm leaving.' I said, 'No no no, calm down. It's OK, it's OK. I just want to make sure you are OK. Do you need an ambulance?' And when he looked at me, he had a tear in his eye. 'Yeah, I'm just tired and hungry and lonely,'" Urquhart told KEYT.

Urquhart said a little voice inside told him he needed to get to know the man better, so he sat down.

"I just wanted him to know that I'm a man just like him, you know, and that I'm no better, no worse," Urquhart said.

The two men talked for a while, then Urquhart noticed the man was hungry, so he brought him some food and a cup of coffee.

The encounter left Urquhart with a good feeling that hasn't left him quite yet.

"The next time you walk past a homeless person or you look at them, just don't ever forget that that could very easily be you. I offered him some peace and some love that day, and that's all I could give him that day," said Urquhart.

CNN/KEYT