Need a Hand?

On the way to school this morning, my son's bike chain came off. There I was, struggling to get it put back on having very little success when a man rode up. He was on his child's bike. I don't know who he was - must have been a neighbor - but I had never met him before. He asked me if I needed a hand. I told him I did, he showed me a little trick to get the chain back on, told me how to tighten the chain and rode off. He must have seen me out of his window and rode to my rescue. It was so kind, so unexpected and so needed.

Riding back home I couldn't help but think of the newspaper article I had read the night before. A homeless immigrant from Guatemala was working construction in New York City. He came across a man and a woman arguing and stepped in to try and help. He was wounded in the process and left, lying on the street. The article said nearby security cameras showed dozens of people simply walking by him. When firefighters finally arrived hours later, the man was dead.

How many of us see someone in need, know that we can help, and do nothing? I wonder what our world would become if we could be like the man I met this morning. We would see someone struggling, get on our bikes, ride across the street and ask, "Do you need a hand?"