Courage to be Kind

I  had a super random experience the other night, and I've been thinking about it a ton. It was about midnight and I was at my friend's house, sitting outside on the curb just chatting before I got in my car to head home. Then this random guy comes walking up the street. It's dark so we can't see him well at all, but he stops and asks us if we know where LDS Hospital is. Of course he's way off, so we try to explain to him how to get there. However, there really is no easy way because of City Creek Canyon. Trying to just explain it becomes really hard to understand, so he asks if we have a smart phone so he can at least see a map. The whole time I'm wondering why this guy needs to go there so late, as he seems healthy and visiting hours are over. So as I'm getting my phone out of the car I ask him why he needs to go to the hospital so late, and he says, "Oh, I'm just having a baby." So I'm like, "What?! Get in the car, we'll just take you there!" So we drive this random guy to the hospital.

If you read this story and thought, "Lacey, you are crazy for giving this guy a ride, he could have killed you," you would not be alone. In fact, that was running through my mind the entire time. I kept thinking about how he could totally be lying, or high, or wanting money, or a serial killer or a myriad of other issues (I watch a lot of Criminal Minds so my imagination was not lacking here).

But at the same time, I balanced that fear with the idea of him missing the birth of his child because he had to walk 45+ minutes to the hospital. A drive that was less than 10 for us. He was really in a pickle. His wife had taken their only car to the hospital, and he had just finished working a 12 hour shift. Someone had told him incorrect directions to the hospital, and his smart phone had died. It was definitely the perfect storm for him. So I took a chance, did what I felt was right, and showed some compassion.

Given the recent happenings in our country, and around the globe, it is no question that we live in a dangerous world. There are so many things to be fearful of. Sometimes it seems that we can't trust anyone. We have to have courage to be kind. Like, real, true courage, to step outside our comfort zone and take a real risk. It makes me so sad that this is what our world has become. That strangers are immediately enemies before we even know anything about them. Wouldn't it be great if we looked at strangers as friends we haven't met yet? If we took opportunities to connect with strangers? I think these ideas of connection are the purpose of life, and I want to make a better effort to connect, even if only briefly, with the strangers in my life.

The whole ride to the hospital, I hear all about his family. His life is very different than mine. I hear about his three older boys and his excitement to find out the gender of the new baby. He asks our names, and then says, "we have a boy name picked out, but not a girl name, yet. Lacey might be a good choice." He then thanks us for the ride and goes in to be there for his new kid. I'll likely never know how it all turned out, but I was so impacted by this opportunity to lend a hand to a stranger in the middle of the night, and connect with another person just trying to get through life like me.