My good deed

The other day, I was in the car with my friend and her 7 year old niece. We were on our way to JoAnn's fabrics to look for more flannel for a blanket they were in the process of creating. It wasn't an overly hot day, but probably in the low 90's. Hot enough that we were using the air conditioning and thankful for it.


We were almost at JoAnn's - about five blocks away - when we saw him. There was an elderly man walking along the sidewalk. Well, he wasn't really walking, he was shuffling. I didn't get a good look at him because I was talking (shocking, I know...me? talking?), but my friend was really concerned about him. She kept looking in her rear view mirror. She finally said that he looked like he was in a lot of physical distress and that she didn't think he was going to make it. I told her to turn around, then, and we should go back.


Normally, this wouldn't have been a difficult decision. But we had her young niece with us. Again, not typically a difficult decision, even with the little girl with us, except my friend's brother just died of a sudden heart attack last month, and his daughter was home when it happened. The same little girl we had with us. We couldn't keep going, though, and not even see if he was okay, so we turned around.

When we pulled up next to him, he was not very coherent and didn't seem like he wanted to talk to us. He was on a mission - a SLOW and laborious mission - and it didn't seem like he could stop to talk. My friend offered him a ride, and after a minute of thought, he accepted. I got out of the front seat, helped him in, and then climbed in the back with Niece. The gentleman's name was Wally, and he was not doing well at all. My friend asked where we could take him, but he couldn't tell us where he was going or where he lived. He asked us to take him "around the corner" and then he'd continue on his way. We took him to the Pizza Hut, and he promised he'd go in and rest up before continuing on his way.

We just didn't feel right leaving him there, so I walked him in. I got him a glass of ice water from the manager, and got a phone book. While my friend was parking her car, I called the non-emergency police line, and let them know we were concerned. The dispatcher kept asking if we wanted an ambulance, but I didn't for several reasons. First, I thought Wally was doing okay. Now that we had him sitting down and resting, I thought he'd be okay. Second, I didn't think he'd stick around long enough for them to come. And third, Niece was scared enough by what was going on, and she shared that "the last time I called 911, Daddy died." Crap. We couldn't blow this out of proportion, and Niece HAD to see that people can be helped by calling 911.

Wally was a bit impatient, though, and while I was on the phone with Kara the Dispatch Lady, he got up and walked / shuffled back outside. I followed him and saw that my friend had convinced him to sit down in her car again, and let her give him a ride. I was still on the line with the police, and Kara asked if she could talk to Wally. I handed the phone over, and she proceeded to stall him until a police officer showed up.

By the time the officer got there (no lights or sirens, thank goodness), Wally was much improved. He had some color back in his cheeks, his eyes were more focused, and he was far more coherent.

I was so relieved that nothing worse happened. It appears that our friend Wally has a bit of dementia, as he couldn't remember his phone number. Well, he remembered a phone number, but it's been disconnected. His driver's license didn't have a current address, either. We thanked the officer and bade goodbye to Wally, and then continued on our way.

We talked to Niece, and asked her if she had any questions. We told her she'd been amazing, and congratulated her on her bravery. It was our good deed for the day.