Sources confirmed that, after eating dinner alone in Chipotle, Hopkins sophomore Jude Freidman expressed awe at the ease with which the homeless lining the sidewalks of St. Paul Street approached people.

Freidman told reporters, “I walked past, and I didn’t even know this guy, but he came right up to me and started talking.  That takes some serious confidence and people skills I only wish I had.”

Freidman said that the homeless man’s words were, ‘Change, please.’  The man then proceeded to vomit in the gutter and wash his mouth out with vodka before passing out on a piece of cardboard.  It was then that Freidman knew he was witnessing something special.

“First, I thought he was asking me to give him spare change,” Freidman said,  “but the more I thought about it, I realized he was asking me to change.  Change how I relate to people, you know?  Then I saw how my refusal to change affected him on such a physical, visceral level, and thought, ‘a guy with empathy like that deserves to see results.’”

Friedman described himself as a quiet person, saying this interview was “literally the most human interaction I’ve had since the 8^th grade,” but he said this encounter could go a long way to revolutionize his way of life.

“Now everyday after classes I just go down to St. Paul Street and watch them reach out to people, and boy are they masters!  They don’t let anyone walk past without talking to them.  They always say such wise things like, ‘Money, please! I’m starving!’’  Freidman’s eye widened as he whispered, “They’re starving… for truth.  How deep is that?  I take more notes on their methods than I do in any of my classes.”

Recently, Friedman’s discipleship of these homeless men has progressed from the observation stage to emulation. Friedman said that after throwing all his possessions in a shopping cart and urinating on them, he felt it was time to begin yelling, “Please, anything helps!” to pedestrians on his own, which he is now convinced is his calling.

At press time, Friedman was reportedly wowed by the boldness and authority with which passersby were telling him to get out of their faces.  ​