The young man walked slowly along the highway. He carried a backpack which was loaded with what could have been all his possessions. Although it was morning, sweat was already trickling down his face. The hot summer sun created shimmers on the highway ahead of him.
Annie was driving along the highway to visit her sister eighty miles away. She saw the young man and wondered how far he was walking. If he were headed to the next town, he still had seventeen miles to go. Annie’s husband told her this morning that he heard towns were supplying water and a place to rest for homeless people, so although she felt compassion for this man, she did not worry too much. Instead she silently wished him well. Being a woman alone on the road, she was afraid to stop and offer him a ride. All she could do was offer a prayer that someone would do so.
At the next town, Annie bought donuts to share with her sister, and a packaged cake to take home after her visit. She had lunch with her sister and in the late afternoon, she started for home. As she approached the town that would have been nearest that man she had seen this morning, she began looking for him. She did not see him. About five miles out of town, she spotted the man. He had not even gotten seventeen miles more since this morning. She wondered where he had started his trek.
“Oh, my, what can I do? I’m a woman alone and it is getting dark. I wish I could help. No one even offered him a ride today and the temperature had reached 99 degrees. He must be hungry.” Annie thought about the little cake she was taking home and decided to give it to the man. But, how? She figured the only way to not endanger herself was to toss the cake out the car window to the man. And so she did.
“Why can’t people be kind to each other without fear?” she thought as she drove home.
Discussion: What would you have done? Why are people afraid to help others? Was Annie’s feat justified?