The Samaritan

Today I met a man while towing his friend's car away. My encounter spanned but a few minutes, but I found my thoughts reverting back to his humble presence time and again over the course of my 11 hours in the truck.

He was my first "victim" and I found him parked behind the broken down car, in his own beat up POS (piece of shit.) He greeted me with a certain joviality that I don't believe anyone should have so early in the morning, regardless of their BCLs (blood caffeine levels.) While some might find it annoying, I was pleased, since I probably wanted to be standing beside the snow covered shoulder dodging traffic about as much as he.

His story? He's that guy that everyone calls when they need a hand. He comes to his friends' rescue at least a few times a week, and doesn't seem to ask for anything in return, almost acting as though he doesn't deserve it anyway. A manager at FedEx, not even his office has his cell number because he can't find the time to handle their problems outside of his closest pals.

My first reaction should have been, "Wow, what a great guy to have as a friend." In fact, I even jokingly asked for his number saying I could use a "Shit, who do I call?" person. However, the thought which invaded my mind before all others was, "This poor bastard." He's so busy helping everyone else that he totally neglects himself. He drives a car which sounds like it's yearning to be 6 feet under, dresses with more abandon than most guys I went to college with, and has bags under his eyes which were more full than the ones holding my groceries this week.

On one hand I felt pride in the human spirit, that there's a guy who is willing to put himself out time and again for friends who leave sticky notes on their driver's window telling him what to do with their mess. But the nagging thought kept creeping up, that if he gave his own person half the attention and dedication that he did his "friends", he may be living a far better existence. His shoes may have fewer holes, and his hair might have seen scissors this year.

What can I learn from this guy? I can promise to put my own needs before those of others. I can evaluate a situation before taking action, and ask, "Am I going to be taking something away from myself by helping this person? Or will I be hanging in neutral, or maybe even gain something from the experience?"

So I acted on my thoughts. I stood up for myself today when someone tried taking advantage of me. Instead of rolling over, or allowing it to happen, (convincing myself that I was being a good person because it was helping them), I stopped it from occurring thereby preventing the negative impact it would have on my emotional health.

So take your sticky notes, and shove 'em!