I knew he was in desperate need… I got a call today to assist a young man traveling through Granbury who was without a vehicle, out of money, and hungry. I had a pretty idea that he was legitimate. In fact, I knew he was desperate. He showed up in the lobby at the police department late this afternoon.

People that have something to hide don’t frequent the police department for any reason. As I interviewed him, he inhaled the food that one of our supervisors purchased for him. He told me he had been walking and hitchhiking for 30 hours.
I have been around long enough to be able to sense when someone is lying. This young man was legitimate.

The receptionist at the police department went to work and found him a bus ticket back to his home in Arizona. We made all of the arrangements for him to get on a bus in Ft. Worth. The forty mile trek from Granbury to Ft. Worth is quite feat for a young man on foot. I was unable to take him myself because of prior commitments.

Another man standing in the lobby who can come down to the police station to purchase an accident report or accomplish some other routine matter heard my conversation with the young man in need. He immediately volunteered to take him to the bus station in Ft. Worth.

It sure is nice to see the basic goodness of people in action. The young man in question obviously had not had an opportunity to bathe for several days. He was a complete stranger to our Good Samaritan this afternoon. The man who drove him over to the bus station ended up staying with him until the bus departed. He treated him like any of us would treat a family member or a close friend if we were sending them off on a trip. I appreciate people who don’t talk about serving others in an unselfish spirit. They just do it. And they choose to serve in ways that draws little, if any attention to them.

I knew he was in desperate need. And it is obvious that someone else did as well. Thank God for generous citizens who are willing to help a neighbor in need. It is impossible to do much good alone, but when we all team up good things have a way of happening. I probably won’t see that young man again, but I hope the gentle hum of the wheels of a Greyhound bus will lull him to sleep tonight.