As I was driving to work this morning, running a bit late, I noticed a man walking down the street with a gas can in his hand. By the time I realized what I was looking at, I was past him, but I still could have stopped and offered him a lift. I don't know when he had started walking...where his vehicle had run out of fuel. But I did know that headed in the direction he was going, he had a ways to go before he reached a gas station.
I really should have turned around and offered him a ride, because the guilt over the whole thing is consuming me. If our positions were reversed, I would have really wanted someone to offer me a ride. And I have been known to offer rides to strangers in similar straits. As I continued down the road, indecision kept me from pulling a U-turn and driving back to offer assistance. I wasn't that late.
When I finally arrived at the gas station, I realized just how long a walk this guy had in front of him. I felt worse.
I hope a better person that I am today picked him up. Maybe it was a very attractive woman, and they could hit it off and maybe he'll decide not to even go back to his car, but continue on with her wherever it is she's going today. They'll have a happy life together and have beautiful children. One of their children might discover a cure for cancer.
Yeah. I feel better now.
Friday, September 7, 2007
the bad samaritan
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2 comments:
If it was supposed to be you then you would have done it. We can talk out way out of our guilty feelings but I prefer the 'oh sod it' theory.
i've had a few days to reflect on this, and i've decided that he was likely an arsonist, and was either on his way to or from some sort of illegal activity. if I had stopped to do pick him up, I would have been accessory to a crime. I don't need that on my record.
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