Out of Character...

I did something the other day I've never done; I picked up someone walking by the side of the road and gave them a ride. This old woman walking along the side of the road, barely out of the way of the traffic, approached my passenger side window while I was stopped in traffic. She knocked on the window. For a split second I thought about just ignoring her and hope traffic would start moving again. But I didn't. I rolled down my window to see what she wanted. She said she wanted a ride to the bank just at the next light. Oh, ok I thought, if it was just to the next light I can do that. So, I opened the door and cleared off the passenger seat for her. She got in. The first thing I noticed as she was stepping into the car was that she was wearing slippers and what looked like a night gown that came down to just below her knees. Luckily it wasn't a brutally cold day, but it sure was cold enough and in addition to the night gown and slippers, all she had on was a light spring type coat. Yikes!! I all of a sudden just felt so bad for her.

It turns out she didn't know the name of the bank and it wasn't the Commerce bank that was up at the next light. She insisted that it was just up the road and that she'd recognize it when she saw it. We traveled about two miles before we got to the Fleet bank she was interested in. When we pulled into the parking lot it became obvious that it was closed. She got out to double check. She seemed real disappointed that it was closed. I was able to read the hours posted on the door. It said the bank had closed at three in the afternoon, it was now five twenty.

For a split second, I actually thought of leaving her there to walk home on her own. I couldn't do that, she had slippers and a night gown on for christ's sake!! I asked her where she lived, figuring it couldn't be too far from where I had picked her up. She said Broadside apartments. I didn't know where that was. She said it was near the Burger King. Oh, way up on Broad Street?? Yes. We had to be easily three miles away, maybe even four. I was shocked that she had walked so far in her slippers, night gown and light read jacket. So, I offered to drive her home and she accepted.

The drive felt like it was an eternity as we slowly make our way through rush hour traffic to Broad Street. I was so uncomfortable. I'm really not very good with striking up conversations with strangers and on top of that there was my fear. Here I am giving a complete stranger a ride. My mind started to imagine that this old woman might have a gun in the pocket of her jacket and demand all my money once we finally arrived at the apartments. I was prepared to give it to her if that were to be how things played out. But of course, that's not at all what happed. When we got to the apartments she asked if I'd mind just dropping her off at Burger King just a few hundred yards up the street, she said she was going to get something to eat. I drove in and dropped her off at the door. I thought she was going to ask me for food money, but she didn't and I didn't offer. She thanked me for the ride. I said your welcome and admonished her to stay safe. She walked into Burger King and that was the end of our encounter.