John R Purcell

An early morning walk before the days activities begin is usually uneventful. There are few cars or trucks on the road and the only other people you see are other walkers, some walking their dogs , or joggers. One morning an event occurred that was out of the ordinary. I was walking down a road which had four lanes of traffic and a median in the center. There was no traffic on the road at this early hour except for an old model minivan approaching toward me on the other side of the median and continuing on past me. It was therefore a surprise when the same minivan pulled up along side in the lane next to me now heading in the same direction I was going, and stopped. It appeared that the driver wanted to speak to me so I stepped over to the passenger side open window to see what he wanted. He said, "Someone put a television set out for the trash pickup which I would like to get but I can't lift it by myself. Could you give me a hand getting it in my van?"

I could see that he was a rather small, older man and his request seemed reasonable so I replied, "Sure, where is it?".

"It's just down the road a little way. Get in and we'll drive down." he said.

Without giving it a second thought I got in the van and he continued down the road a short distance and sure enough there was a television sitting at the curb apparently being left for the trash pick-up. When we stopped, I stepped out and went to pick up the television to place it in the van but he was right about it being heavy. I could not lift it either. The two of us managed to lift it and place it in his van. He thanked me and drove off and I continued my walk.

As I walked, it suddenly occurred to me that what I had just done was not a very smart thing to do. I had taken a risk in getting in a van with a total stranger on an early morning with no other people in sight and willingly drove off with him. What if his request for help was merely a scam to get me in the van and then possibly rob me or even kill me. Even though he appeared to be a harmless old man, there was no way to tell what his mental state was. Things like that happen all the time and even though the incident turned out well, I now realize that I should have used better judgment, I never should have risked getting in the van when I could have just as easily walked the short distance to the spot where the television set was.

It bothers me that i would have to be suspicious of anyone who might ask me for help in a similar situation. It should not be that way.