The World Stops To Help A Little Old Lady

To give a little background: at the county seat, the buildings housing several human service agencies are on one side of the main street. The courthouse, the health department, and the government center with all the county services are on the other side. The street is four lanes wide, very busy, and the nearest traffic light is three blocks away. People either walk down to the light and back up again, or take their chances with the pedestrian crosswalk that the city installed between the two campuses.

One morning I am just getting out of my car when I see a rather frail, elderly woman on the other side of the street by the human services buildings. This is the rural Midwest, and people are usually pretty polite, but she hesitates to step out into traffic and no wonder, as cars whip past.

Before I can do anything, a teenager in a fast food uniform comes out of the courthouse parking garage and runs across the street. He offers her his arm, holds up his hand to stop traffic, and escorts her over to the other side.

Kudos to him, and kudos to the drivers who stopped and patiently let a little old lady walk veeerrryyy slowly across four lanes of traffic during morning rush hour without anyone honking their horn or cursing.