Real Human Beings

Today I needed a walk so Lily and I walked to the secret swim spot and as we approached the dirt path there were a few young kids on bicycles riding ahead of us. I said hello hoping they wouldn't be afraid of Lily. When Lily and I approached the water I noticed a layer of bright green algae on the surface but that didn't dissuade Lily from bounding in to fetch the stick. She parted the green slimy surface by swimming through it. I could hear the kids nearby at a different inlet. They were howling like wolves for fun. I didn't stay long and the boys on bikes were also leaving just ahead of us. As we climbed onto the street I saw one of the boys ditch his bike and hunch over, clutching his finger. He was in pain and began to cry. I saw him put his hand under the sprinkler that was spraying water in the nearby yard. One of the boys knocked on the door of the sprinkler house. I shouted ahead are you okay? He shouted back we need a band-aid. I saw the man who lives across the street doing stuff in his back yard and I yelled to him, "Excuse me, a boy's been hurt, we may need your help." As I approached the injured boy he said his finger got cut in his bike chain. The man and his red-haired daughter came out to the front yard. He asked her to fetch band-aids. The other boys gathered around as the man had a closer look and washed the wound while his daughter was running in and out of the house with gauze and tape. Then the kind man wrapped up the boy's finger with the bandages.

On my way home I found a bright green credit card in the street and picked it up. I could tell it was a young girl's name on the card. When I got home I tried to find her in the telephone book but realized she probably had a cell phone - phone numbers in phone books are an old-fashioned notion. So I called the bank listed on the card and got lost in the robot phone tree a few times. Then the robot asked me for my social security number. I said nothing for a long time and then a real live man said "May I help you?" I said "Yes! I am so happy to talk to a human being! I found a credit card while walking my dog and I wanted to notify the owner and since that was not possible I thought you could help." He told me he would freeze the account and asked me to please cut up the card. "Enjoy your walks," he said, and he thanked me for being a good Samaritan. I thanked him for being a real human being!