A few days ago I was recalling that time when I was working at a company that was relatively close to my home. It was about a fifteen minute drive from my house and a commute like that is something great in the place where I live.

One day I got the urge to go get a hamburger from my favorite place which is very popular where I live.

I took my car and drove from my workplace to the restaurant which was very close, went in and ordered my meal.

At that time of the day there were many people there either ordering or waiting for their food.I was seated, I was observing the people in the restaurant, I like to observe instead of immersing myself in my mobile device.

Everyone in the restaurant was in their own world and not much was going on other than people waiting for their food either standing or sitting at one of their tables.

Then the door opened, and a couple walked in, they were a man and a woman that seemed to be married. This couple stood out from the crowd in the restaurant, they were two older persons I would say mid to late seventie’s and you could tell they were foreigners.

As they walked in with kind of a nervous smile and looking around it caught my eye the way that they were looking around and conversing amongst themselves.

I was very curious and wondered if they wanted to order something and maybe did not speak the language. I was very intrigued and kept observing.

After a few moments the gentleman that just walked in turned to the lady and made a gesture, then approached one of the persons that was waiting for his food. He made an effort and seemed to try to ask him something. It was obvious that they did not understand each other and after a few words, the person waiting for his food shrugged his shoulders and turned back to the counter to wait for his food.

The gentleman turned to the lady who I assumed was his wife, and made a gesture like he did not get what he needed.

By then I had gotten my food and was observing as I ate, like being at a movie theater, but instead of popcorn I had a hamburger, fries and a soft drink.

At that point I also thought that he may have been asking for money and that is why he was dismissed.

Anyway, just making up my own stories in my head.

Then I saw the sweet gentleman approach others trying to communicate with no luck.

At that point I felt that these two people needed help and none of the persons there were able or willing to help.

Just as I finished my lunch, the couple seemed to give up and walked out of the restaurant.

I saw their facial expressions and thought about my parents and imagined if they were lost in a strange country and needed help and no one was able to help.

So, I walked out and walked up to them.

They were much shorter than me and just wondered how they saw this very tall person approaching them in the parking lot.

I walked up to them respectfully and tried talking to them, but they did not speak English, they spoke Mandarin, and I was not knowledgeable in the language. This was just before we had these good translators on our phones.

So, as I tried talking to them, I saw the lady take the initiative and tried to explain what had happened, they had a cell phone but no service and everything was in Mandarin.

They showed me the phone and I recognized a number with a local area code. So after some back and forth I dialed the number from my phone.

As I did that they seemed happy and satisfied that they had made their point.

However there was no answer and I left a message. I tried a couple of more times with no luck.

As I was doing this I was thinking these two persons obviously with no knowledge of where they were made a decision to walk out from where they were staying and wondered through a foreign city with no knowledge of the language, no cell service, no map and here they were calm and looking to resolve the issue even though there were many obstacles.

After a few tries and not getting an answer they showed me what seemed to be an address, I was not going to leave them by themselves, I was committed to help them, so I asked them if I could drive them there, and they nodded in acknowledgement. Well I made gestures of them getting in the car and grabing the steering wheel. You could imagine.

They said yes and I opened the door and they got in the car. As I used the address and input  in the GPS I noticed that they were several miles away and started to wonder how they got to the restaurant, my head was wondering if they got on a bus to get there, I was thinking “They must have been really boarded” then I came back to the present and started driving. 

As I started to drive I would turn to the gentleman and ask if I was going the right way, by now just imagine our communication, facial expressions and hand gestures . He just nodded yes.

But it did not feel right because we were going towards an area that did not have houses, mostly an industrial area. But as I was thinking that, my phone rang  and it turned out it was a police officer.

They asked me if I had called and left a message about the couple, I said yes and told the officer that I had the couple in my car trying to drive them home, but the address did not seem right.

He asked me if I wanted to stop and have them picked up by them, but I asked if I it would be ok if I could drive them there, he said yes and gave me the correct address which was only five minutes away.

Turns out I was going the wrong way and had to turn around. The good thing is that I was not far from where we started. Went into a residential area and after a few twists and turns we arrived at their home.

There were two police cars outside and two other gentlemen waiting for the couple.

I parked and opened the door to let them out. Their expressions turned from nervous smiles to real happy smiles. You could tell they were relieved that they were back home.

Turns out they were visiting and decided to go for a walk, they were not far from home, only they got turned around.

As I said goodbye, the very excited couple offered me to come in and have something to eat,  as a sign of gratitude, I would have done it except I had just eaten and needed to  head back to work.

Just before I left one of the officers asked me a couple of questions then said this is a case of ” a good Samaritan”

As I remember this from time to time there are so many lessons here:

• From not being afraid to face the world like the couple.

• To be observant and acknowledging when there is someone in need.

• To trust someone that they will do the right thing.

The decision the couple made that morning to go out for a walk, started a chain reaction of so many wonderful things and I felt so grateful that I had the opportunity to be able to help and give joy to that sweet couple that was just trying to get home.

And just as this opportunity, there are many more every single day you just need to be observant and when you see someone in need don’t just shrug them off or look the other way, embrace the opportunity and try to be “a good Samaritan”.

E. Luna.