Finding Inspiration Among Unlikely Heroes
July 30, 2011, By Steve Thompson 0 comments
The first year I lived in Houston, a terrible storm plagued the city for several days, making rivers and lakes of the streets around my apartment. I stayed inside for several days since my route to work was impassable, and I spent a lot of time watching the news. During a broadcast, the plight of a woman and her two school-age children was shown several times. The trio was stranded in their silver Honda Accord, having ventured onto a road the sedan couldn't safely navigate. Noticing their distress, an elderly gentleman came out of his house, waded through the waist-deep water to her side, and started valiantly pushing her car to help her to higher ground.
The much younger and able-bodied cameraman stood to the side, his lens fixed on the old man. To him, video footage was more important than the peril of a young woman and her daughters.
The good Samaritan was interviewed after he got the family to safety. He was an 86-year-old retiree, and he limped when he walked. That man was a hero.
My heroes are sometimes war veterans, great writers, talented inventors, deep thinkers—but more often they are ordinary folks who want to do the right thing, regardless of personal cost, and who make sacrifices to provide assistance to people in need.
During a Christmas season, a well-known blogger named Jenny Lawson offered $30 gift cards to commenters on her website who weren't able to purchase Christmas gifts for their kids. What transpired was the opposite of greed. In addition to the people who wrote in about their holiday financial troubles, others wrote about their willingness to donate money as well.
In addition to sending gift cards for Christmas gifts, donors paid rent and electricity bills, covered medical expenses like prescriptions and donated goods so children would find something wonderful under the tree. None of these people received anything in return, and no one asked for proof of the recipients' need. Nearly 700 donors participated, donating over $40,000.
Those people are heroes.
NEXT: Unlikely Hero
