I am going to admit, I am a prejudice person and this isn't to make me feel better about myself but I would like to share it nonetheless.
Last week, I drove past an elderly person walking in the heat. I stopped and checked they were okay and asked if they needed anything. He was dressed in winter clothes despite the 38 degrees outside. He asked for a lift home if it was on my way. It wasn't, but I lied and said it was.
We introduced ourselves to each other and made some quick small talk as we were both rather nervous. It wasn't an overly long drive so there wasn't a lot to be said. However, he did tell me this: he was SO taken aback by the kindness I showed him, stopping to check he was okay without a second thought. He has done something terrible in his life, he killed a man (car accident, drink driving) and his family and friends disowned him. He has no one and no one cares for him now that he is out of jail. He is so isolated and alone but the fact that someone cared enough to stop has made him feel alive and like a human being again. He said to be treated with respect despite his wrongdoings was just everything to him, I didn't know what he had done and I was able to give him a lift without frowning down on him.
If I knew his history, I most likely wouldn't have stopped and I would have driven past him. However, the fact I didn't know him from a bar of soap meant I cared enough to stop.
My point is, I am angry at myself for letting my opinions get in the way previously. I made someone's whole year just by showing an ounce of kindness.
3 Replies
Having just lost a friend to a drivers accident, I don't blame you and there's a reason we have these kinds of feelings. He's done something that has destroyed other people's lives.
Life has a funny way of showing people signs and giving lessons when and where it’s truly needed.
You could be the very reason he doesn’t kill himself if he truly is as isolated as he said. And it taught you to not make such quick assumptions
His biggest punishment is having to live the rest of his life knowing his stupidity has taken someone else's life. You are a wonderful person for stopping without first knowing who he was or what wrongs he has done in his life. You stopped to help and it meant something so big to someone who has nothing and probably just waiting to die. You were the little bit of light in the blackness that is his life. If you were a horrible person you would have never stopped, don't be hard on yourself.