Editor’s note: This article was first published in September 2013, and tells Leo’s story as of late September 2013, when he was four weeks from finishing an app about climate change. The app’s release and Leo’s later situation are not covered.
Patrick McConlogue is a young programmer who one day wondered what would happen if homeless people were taught to code. So one morning this 23-year-old, Manhattan-based programmer approached a homeless man he often saw on his way to work and offered him an idea with two options. The idea was simple. He told the man:
With all due respect, I’d like to propose something. I can give you 100 dollars, or I can come back tomorrow with three JavaScript books, at beginner, intermediate and expert level, so you can start reading them and learn to code. I’ll also bring you an inexpensive computer, and every day I’ll spend an hour of my time teaching you and answering your questions. Which option do you choose?
The homeless man, named Leo, chose the second option.
McConlogue wanted to test his theory that, beyond the stereotypes, some people live in extreme poverty because others don’t give them a chance. Of course, sometimes they are given chances but aren’t willing to learn or make the effort. Leo, on the other hand, although he wondered who this person taking an interest in helping him was, felt that doors were opening for him to learn something new; after all, he had nothing better to do.
Leo took his learning very seriously, to the point of being four weeks away from finishing an app (with McConlogue’s help) that could be reasonably successful, as it deals with one of Leo’s concerns: climate change and global warming. They haven’t said anything more about the app.
While some accuse McConlogue of using the story to get his 30 minutes of fame, some reporters didn’t hesitate to ask Leo whether he didn’t feel like a pawn in someone else’s experiment, and whether he even knew what Google or the tech blog Mashable were. Leo said he didn’t care about any of that: he feels he is learning something new, he sees a door opening to a better future, and McConlogue is his man.
McConlogue, unmoved by the insinuations and criticism, fell back on an old saying: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
The reporters behind the Business Insider report were surprised by Leo’s ability to concentrate. While they were frustrated by the noise of lorries, honking cars and every kind of distraction, Leo remained unfazed. After all, those conditions are the backbone of his environment.
Above all, Leo wanted people to know that he didn’t feel miserable before McConlogue showed up four weeks earlier, but that he saw someone who looked beyond the homeless stereotype and offered him an opportunity. He had never thought about coding, and a month ago he didn’t even know what it was, but now it is what he is doing and what he wants to keep learning.
My life had good moments before this, Leo says, and now this chance to learn to do something new will give him more opportunities to have more good moments.
So, what conclusions can we draw from this story?
Further reading
- 15 habits for success in business and your career
- 50 inspiring quotes from entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs
Featured image: Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
