The Old Man of the Night

I don't think I've mentioned it here before but I currently work part time for a company called Lyft which is a ride share program. It's much like a taxi service except that the drivers use their own vehicles and the rides are about 30% cheaper than a typical taxi service. Mostly, I work nights taking people from bars either to the next bar they're going to or to their homes. It is a good part-time job for me because I meet new people and I do it in the cool of the night when there's much less traffic. 

A few nights ago I was parked in a lot across the street from one of the busier bars when I was approached by an elderly man who walked up to the truck and said, “Hey, big man. Do you think you can help me out?" As he approached, he was singing an old gospel song. I asked him what he needed and he pulled out his Veteran’s Administration ID card and showed it to me. He said he was trying to get enough money to take a bus to Palo Alto where he was going to get some medical attention at the VA hospital for several maladies he suffered including diabetes and vision problems. He said he served a tour in Vietnam, arriving there just before Tet and he went  on to describe the "craziness" of his time there. I chatted with him for a while and thought that maybe his story was true. This is not always the case because a lot of street people have a story they run on people in order to get money from them. He told me the bus fare was $17 to Palo Alto and the bus was going to leave at 2 a.m. At the time I spoke to him, it was about 10 p.m. He said he was also hoping to get a couple of dollars to get something to eat. As I considered helping him, I told him to get in my truck and I took him the three blocks to the nearest McDonald's and went into the drive-through. I asked him what he wanted and he said he’d like a hamburger and a milk. I asked him if that's all he wanted and he said yes, that he didn't eat much and it's all he needed. I purchased this with my debit card. I had exactly $17 cash in my pocket and so I thought maybe I would give them the money because he seemed very sincere and his story sounded plausible. 

I drove to the bus station which is almost across the street from the McDonald's and parked.  He broke onto another gospel song and so I asked him if he was a Christian to which he replied he was. I inquired as to why he didn't ask his church to help him with the bus fare and he answered that he attended “a very poor church.” As he was finishing his food, I asked if he minded if I checked out his story to which he said he did not mind. I looked up the Greyhound schedule for buses that were going from Modesto to Palo Alto on my iPhone and found that there was is no such bus and I told him so. He then said he was going to go to Oakland where he would catch a shuttle to Palo Alto. As his story began to change and subsequently unravel, I checked the schedule for buses going to Oakland. I discovered that there was not one leaving at 2 a.m. as he had said, but instead it wouldn't depart until 8:40 in the morning. When I advised him of this, he sort of shrugged his shoulders and a a look of sheepishness came over his face. I then said that I wouldn't be able to help him any more than buying him the hamburger and milk. He thanked me for that and exited my truck. He then wandered off down the road away from the bus station and, I presume toward the next Good Samaritan who just might buy his story.