Posted on 03/06/2015 11:42:37 AM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
When off-duty Jonesboro, Arkansas police officer John Shipman posted the following account to Facebook, he had no idea what would happen next:
“As I’m headed to the house its 2 15 am and 19 degrees. I pass by an individual walking along stadium. I stop and ask the young man if he wanted ride. He did. He told me he had just finished his shift at McDonalds. He also told me he was in college and did not have a car. his family is the usual. One parent and can’t afford to help…. He gets off at the same time tomorrow night. I told him I would be by to see if he needs a ride.
Real world”
The long walk home, regardless of weather, to and from work and school was the norm for James Taylor, according to KAIT. The student was about “a mile into” his four-mile walk home when Officer Shipman stopped:
“I asked him, ‘So you went to work tonight knowing that you didn’t have a ride home and that it was going to be freezing?’ and he said ‘Yes sir.'” Shipman said. “He says I have to, I don’t have any other choice.”
A ride home isn’t all the Jonesboro officer did for the young man. The Huffington Post shares more:
“The day after giving him a ride home, Shipman stopped by Taylor’s apartment and gave him $20 for cab rides.”
Shipman wasn’t finished helping. When the compassionate cop’s social media post “took off,” he was inspired to set up a GoFundMe account in order to help get Taylor a car.
As of Thursday morning, the account had raised more than $7,000, surpassing the $1,400 goal.
KAIT reports that both men are humbled by the outpouring of support, with Taylor praising both the community and Officer Shipman:
“These kind of people, you don’t meet every day. Officer Shipman, he was an amazing guy.”
While they have located a suitable vehicle for Taylor and have enough money to also pay for about six months’ worth of insurance, they have one more hurdle in the way. Taylor doesn’t have a driver’s license:
“Taylor said since he didn’t have money or a car, he didn’t figure he needed a license.”
Taylor’s story is one of several that have been in the news lately about hard working Americans doing what it takes to get to work, even walking many miles in inclement weather.
One such story is that of 56-year-old James Robertson who walked 21 miles for work for more than ten years, never missing a day. Like Taylor, Robertson’s story was shared and a GoFundMe account was set up to buy him a car. The end result was a free car from a local dealership, and over $350,000 in donations.
I am always ambivalent about these kinds of stories.
How many Jameses are out there with no such luck? Like the guy who was walking 21 miles (I still don’t completely believe that one).
I have to look at this the other direction — a kind heart from one side and some luck from the other...
In the end all we can do is help our little corners of the world, I suppose.
The milk of human kindness runs deep, swift and warm.
Now he is adding to our carbon burden and climate change and will later be dragged from the car and beaten by a gang of police for some minor traffic infraction.
I’m kidding, of course. There are a lot of nice cops out there. The saddest one was the cop that paid for the kid’s McDs and then was killed later.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m9xWKfcZzg
That's it, man - be the dude that stops to help, not the one who drives by.
And don't be a liberal-fascist and force someone to help against their will - it either comes rom the heart, or it doesn't.
Beyond just inspiring others to provide help, knowing that people do care can alter a person's decisions and can change their lives.
Thank you for sharing this story. It is inspiring, due to the actions/ethics of both the officer and the young man.
This wouldn’t happen if McDonald’s paid a ‘living wage’...................................
-PJ
The church I go to takes donated cars, fixes them up and gives them to people who need a car. So far we have given away +50 cars in the past 4 years.
“The milk of human kindness runs deep, swift and warm.”
And it comes from a small-town cop who still hasn’t forgotten why he’s out there. All LEOs should take note. This is also part of your job description, and it’s part of being a human being.
Ever since that story about the little girl with facial scars being ‘thrown out of a KFC because customers complained’ turned out to be a Grandmother’s lie, I too have become more skeptical. As far as the James Robertson story, I still don’t get why he would continue at such a faraway job w/o transportation for that many years. Was he a felon, and thus almost guaranteed to be passed over, especially considering that his skill set is most likely limited. We may never know the whole story.
That’s awesome ! Great to hear.
See link @ post #4.
Not just from small towns. That incident was in a major city, San Diego.
Read Matthew 25:35. Jesus tell us that when we do for others we are serving him directly. That’s awesome. Some people just “get it”.
I agree.. and the guy that walked 21 miles a day was just out done by another who walks 31 miles a day to work.. says it takes him 5 - 6 hours. That’s a hell of a pace that I don’t believe.
But I remember walking to school up hill both ways in a blinding snow storm up in Maine when I was younger. We had several feet of snow on average in the winter. Only thing I ever got was new boots and mittens.
There’s a few rare cases of folks with an actual work ethic that work hard out of a sense of responsibility to self & family. I applaud them.. it’s just weeding the real ones out.
Yes, some who are begging for bread or money are those who take avantage of people’s kindness for their drug or alcohol habits.
However God will deal with those kinds.
For the bible tells us this:
Hebrews chapter 13.
1. Let brotherly love continue.
2. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers : For there by some have entertained angels unaware.
James Taylor sang a song “Walking Man”. Different James Taylor.
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