What does it take to make you feel good about yourself?
Have you ever been presented with an opportunity to do something good but didn't act upon it because you felt unwilling to get involved? Most of us have been in that situation. I know I wish I could always be there as a facilitator for all that is good; or another way to say it, would be "to act against all that is bad".
Today at the shop, late afternoon, Gretchen, Zach and Luke were in the shop and Luke was installing some new goodies on his bike. Chris Derkach came into the shop and had something on his mind that he shared with us.
He had been in the University area in San Diego and witnessed a man frantically sawing away at a lock that secured (for the moment) a bike to a pole. Chris asked the guy if it was his bike and the guy said "no". Chris asked him "Then what are you doing?" The guy changed his tune and stammered something about it being his bike. Chris called the police on his cell phone and told them what he was seeing and where it was happening. The guy did not shop sawing away with his hacksaw blade even though Chris was within earshot of the would be thief. There must have been a patrol car in the immediate vicinity because as Chris hung up, a black and white rolled up and aprehended the guy.
I know that's a pretty short story and I wish I could tell you there are some more interesting details to share. But as the cops rolled up onto the scene, Chris turned and went on his way. You see, Chris is a pretty shy fellow.
An interesting side note: Chris said that there were several others around and that they didn't seem to pay any attention to the guy using a hacksaw blade to hack away at a locked bicycle.
I have a picture in my head of a person returning to her/his bike after a day's work and unlocking the bike and riding off without the slightest glimmer of how this very bike changed the lives of two other men this very day. To the owner of the bike, it must seem like the same bike it was when it was first locked to the pole, but now it is much more. It is a changer of lives.
A tip of the hat to Chris and all doers of good deeds.
Chuck Hoefer
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A hack saw in broad daylight in the middle of town? This guy must have either been super high or on a major crash jones-ing real bad for a fix. This was no organized thief.
ReplyDeleteI'm most surprised that the cops even bothered to show up. If it were me who called the cops, I would have stuck around just to see what the cops actually did. If they took him in, then it's a lot of paperwork to go through for a bike. Which is why I think they probably put him in their cruiser and let him out in some other part of town with a stern warning or maybe even a swat or two on the head with their baton.
It's not easy to get the courage to confront anyone let alone someone in the process of committing a crime. Good for Chris for doing this and saving a bicycle from eventually appearing Craigslist.
Thank you Chuck this was a big suprise. It made my day here at work.I still find it odd how 10 to 12 people were at that resteraunt on the patio just eating sushi and watching this go down. Now I don't feel like a tool carrying 2 different types of locks to lock up.
ReplyDeleteWhy did Chuck not give a further intro of who this "Chis." Before further going into the incident. I'd like to have know more about that "Chris." Even had it been only observation of that "Chris."
ReplyDelete"Chris" be said to be 'shy'; but I still think that the cops would have attempted to ask more questions. Even had "Chris" rejected such, Chuck not say of the cops attempt in doing such.