Friday, December 07, 2007

The Good Samaritan

I parked my car along side the street last night since I had not yet shoveled the snow on my driveway. A perfect wintry evening- not too cold, fresh snow glistening from the glow of the streetlights. I'm gathering my purse, gym bag and laptop when I hear a rap on my driver's side window. I'm startled and a little nervous. Before I roll down the window, the guy says, "hey do you have a phone I can use?" Somewhat relieved, I pass my phone through the window. He's overly gracious and explains that he has just hobbled down to the U-stop gas station (he has a cane in one hand) to use the phone and, of course it was broken. Upon hobbling back, he fell on the ice. I assume he is calling someone for a ride. At the first phone call, he learns that the person he is trying to reach has just left for work. Can he make another call? Sure. The next call is to his twin sister, which he is certain will pan out. There is some shouting, and I imagine his sister to be saying something along the lines of not my problem. He explains that he left the house to get something to eat; he can't make anything with the condition of his leg. Which doesn't make since to me—he was able to hobble down to the U-stop to call for help but was unable to reach something out of the cupboard or fridge to heat it up? I'm still feeling bad for him though, and I'm mentally reviewing the contents of my freezer, thinking there might be a lean cuisine I could give him. Can he make one more call? Sure. This time he is calling his mother. He explains the predicament again, and I get the idea that his mother, too, is less than sympathetic. I hear him say that he only has $15. He gave the rest to so-and-so because he didn't trust himself with it. He's going through the whole spiel—he walked all the way down to U-stop, broken phone, fell on the ice. Nice lady let him use her phone. Will mom please get him something to eat? Finally, it sounds like mom will order a pizza and have it delivered to him. I gather this because he says, "no I don't like Davinicis. Yeah, Valentinos. Get peperonni on it." I'm starting to feel less sympathy for him though, thinking he probably would have turned down the humble lean cuisine I would have offered.