My brother-in-law works for an NPR radio station and sent me the link to this remarkable story, A Victim Treats His Mugger Right. The best way to enjoy this story is to go to NPR and click on "listen now" so you can hear Julio Diaz for yourself. Or you can just read it below:
This is Julio Diaz, a 31-year-old social worker who ended his hour-long subway commute
to the Bronx one stop early, just so he can eat at his favorite diner. But
one night last month, as Diaz stepped off the No. 6 train and onto a
nearly empty platform, his evening took an unexpected turn. He was walking toward the stairs when a teenage boy approached and pulled out a knife. He wants my money, so I just gave him my wallet and told him, 'Here you go,'" Diaz says. As
the teen began to walk away, Diaz told him, "Hey, wait a minute. You
forgot something. If you're going to be robbing people for the rest of
the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm." The
would-be robber looked at his would-be victim, "like what's going on
here?" Diaz says. "He asked me, 'Why are you doing this?'" Diaz
replied: "If you're willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars,
then I guess you must really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do
was get dinner and if you really want to join me ... hey, you're more
than welcome. "You know, I just felt maybe he really needs help," Diaz says. Diaz says he and the teen went into the diner and sat in a booth. "The
manager comes by, the dishwashers come by, the waiters come by to say
hi," Diaz says. "The kid was like, 'You know everybody here. Do you own
this place?'" "No, I just eat here a lot," Diaz says he told the teen. "He says, 'But you're even nice to the dishwasher.'" Diaz replied, "Well, haven't you been taught you should be nice to everybody?" "Yea, but I didn't think people actually behaved that way," the teen said. Diaz asked him what he wanted out of life. "He just had almost a sad face," Diaz says. The teen couldn't answer Diaz — or he didn't want to. When
the bill arrived, Diaz told the teen, "Look, I guess you're going to
have to pay for this bill 'cause you have my money and I can't pay for
this. So if you give me my wallet back, I'll gladly treat you." The
teen "didn't even think about it" and returned the wallet, Diaz says.
"I gave him $20 ... I figure maybe it'll help him. I don't know." Diaz says he asked for something in return — the teen's knife — "and he gave it to me." Afterward,
when Diaz told his mother what happened, she said, "You're the type of
kid that if someone asked you for the time, you gave them your watch." "I
figure, you know, if you treat people right, you can only hope that
they treat you right. It's as simple as it gets in this complicated
world."
I have been going literally non-stop for the last four days! Mostly I have been in Orlando for the Exponential Conference where I've done some speaking and serving as conference President. I've been going so hard I didn't have enough time to stop and celebrate some absolutely amazing stuff going on at Community and some amazing stuff going on here in Orlando! So, I am going to play a little catch up in the next several hours. Check back -- great stuff coming your way!!
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