"GOOD SAMARITAN" ARRESTED!

“Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.” (Luke 10:36-37)

Those verses come from the end of Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan; possibly Jesus’ most famous parable. Jesus told His followers to CARE about others- even those from different racial or ethnic groups and even those from different religious groups. We are to GET INVOLVED and TAKE RISKS for the sake of others. I was first taught the Parable of the Good Samaritan by a Catholic “Sister of St. Joseph” in C.C.D. class (Catholic religious ed.) when I was in the third or fourth grade. It made quite an impression on me and I’ve never forgotten it. It teaches the exact opposite of what the Federal and State “powers that be” teach us to do. They essentially say, “DON’T get involved! Call 911. Trust the police and others to take care of it!”. Many of you know my father was “career law enforcement” having retired as a Registry of Motor Vehicles Supervisor in 1982 after a distinguished career as a police officer, Registry Inspector, and Registry Official. Yet, I’m sure my Dad would DISAGREE with what current political leaders such as Martha Coakley tell us to do.

Yesterday, Michael Graham presented a very disturbing story on his afternoon drive talk show on BostonTalks 96.9. It’s the story of Rodney Peterson, a married middle-aged father from the Chicago area. On March 2 as Rodney was pumping gas at a Shell station he noticed two teenage girls walking along in the raging snowstorm. They were not properly dressed for the weather at all, and did not even have an umbrella. He was amazed that they were out in such harsh weather without proper gear and thought someone ought to offer them a ride. After he drove off, he came upon them walking along. Rodney, stopped, rolled down his window, and offered them a ride. They were nervous, and declined the ride. Rodney thought that was that. Several days later he was ARRESTED for DISTURBING THE PEACE...for “scaring” these young girls. He is facing a $750 fine, and lots of negative publicity. It’s been devastating for Rodney and his family, and Rodney was just trying to be, yes, a “Good Samaritan”.

Michael’s broadcast made me think of two stories from my own life:


The first comes from the late Summer of 1995. The elderly mother of a family from Canton that I casually knew passed away. "Linda" whose Mom had died called me and asked if I would do the memorial service at Knollwood Memorial Park chapel in Canton. I did. After the service, she said, "Bob, please come over to my house and join us for some refreshments." I agreed to.

What I did NOT know is that about three years earlier, Linda’s family had moved from their small Cape Cod style home in a working class neighborhood just off Canton Center to a new home in an affluent subdivision in another part of Canton. I pulled up at Linda's old home in my navy blue Olds station wagon wearing my black suit. I waited and waited and waited. I could not understand why no one was showing up. There were some kids around age 10 or 11, playing in the street. I rolled down the window and asked (using Linda’s last name) if that family still lived there. The kids just glared at me like I was some kind of monster. After awhile, I just drove away.

Three weeks later, I got a phone call at home in Framingham from a CANTON POLICE DETECTIVE! At the time, my elderly parents lived in Canton. My Dad had Alzheimer's Disease, and my mother took care of him. I could tell many horrible stories about what a difficult time that was. I was so worried about my parents. When the detective’s call came, I wondered if there had been a murder/suicide...if maybe my mom had snapped, shot my Dad and killed herself, or something like that. My heart just about STOPPED! Instead, I was told that my car was observed in Canton on such and such a date with the driver parked and acting in a suspicious manner. THANKFULLY the cop believed my story and that was that, but it SHOCKED me that I could have been hauled in, fingerprinted, and my reputation ruined!

The other story of mine is really about my daughter, Amy, a nurse in Springfield, Missouri. As a nurse she has to go to work at the medical center no matter what the weather. There was a bad snowstorm, and a city like Springfield, Missouri just doesn’t really know how to handle snow! Amy was driving her small Subaru on a major highway and the car spun out and landed in the (snow covered) median area. A few minutes later, a truck pulled up and three young burly macho guys got out. "Need help??!!" they asked, and the next thing you knew they had her car out of the snow and on the way. Thank God they did not believe in the Martha Coakley way of doing things...well this WAS Missouri, not Massachusetts!

The whole way we as Americans in 2012 are being taught to think, act, and function is frankly upside down in comparison of how Americans of fifty or sixty years ago thought, acted, and functioned. Dangerous criminals who have “rights” roam about wreaking havoc while a guy like Rodney Peterson is arrested for offering a couple of teenage girls a ride in a snowstorm. What are we coming to?