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SALT LAKE CITY — It isn’t often a panhandler teaches me a lesson about being a better person, but that’s just what happened last week.
I'd been working the Outdoor Retailer show all week at the Salt Palace. After a long day of milling around, trying to make a good impression at the show, I was excited to be done for the day. I was hot and tired and all I could think about was getting a Farr’s Fresh Dole Pineapple Whip to soothe my troubles.
As I crossed the street away from the Salt Palace, a panhandler stopped me and asked for a dollar to buy food. I quickly brushed him off and kept walking toward the Farr’s Fresh store at City Creek.
After a quick stop at another store, I continued walking for half a block before I noticed a commotion around me.
The panhandler who had asked me for a dollar just minutes earlier rushed up from behind me and passed me to stop a mid-20s, seemingly blind man wearing a missionary tag for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from walking into oncoming traffic all alone.
I watched as the panhandler nabbed the man by his arm as he was about to step off the curb.
“Hey buddy, you’re about to step into the street and there are cars coming,” the panhandler said. “Can I help you find something?”
"I'm grateful this good person was in the right place at the right time and interceded when I was 'too busy' to notice."
“I’m looking for the Deseret Book,” the man said, pointing toward the street. “Is this it?”
The panhandler explained that Deseret Book was half a block down the street and asked if he wanted help getting there.
The pair of them headed down the sidewalk to the bookstore. I watched, relieved that I hadn’t seen something tragic happen.
I forgot my thoughtless priorities as this panhandler, often seen as a community nuisance, taught me a lesson in human kindness as he led this man -- apparently a service missionary -- by the arm to his destination.
I should have seen the potential accident first. I should have been the one to stop it from happening. Instead, I was distracted by my inward thoughts and selfish desires. I’m grateful this good person was in the right place at the right time and interceded when I was "too busy" to notice.
Wanting to remember this moment, I snapped a photo of the pair walking away. I never want to be so inwardly involved again that I don’t notice when someone needs help.
I felt like this young man should be thanked for his service not only to the man he had helped but also to me.
"I never want to be so inwardly involved again that I don't notice when someone needs help."
After dropping the man off, he made his way back toward where I had been watching the incident. On the way, he stopped two people and asked them for money the same way he had asked me earlier. They both gave him the change out of their pockets and moved on.
When he came back toward me, I told him I’d seen what happened and thanked him for noticing the danger when I didn’t. I handed him a $5 bill, my frozen treat money. He brushed off my thanks and seemed uneasy about accepting the money.
He said it wasn’t a big deal and anyone would have done the same thing. I hope that is true but, either way, sacrificing one frozen treat is a small price to pay for an important lesson about humanity that I’ll never forget. Kristin Sokol authors TheVocalSokol.com, a blog dedicated to helping women stay happy mostly by doing fun things.
