When a stranger needed help, my first reactiom was…

The picture attached is the aftermath of a 30 minute process through which a plumber who’d visited our house both got stuck in the ditch, and then freed himself with some improvised wooden plank grips.

What was interesting to me was my reaction upon learning he’d got stuck, and then how I felt after helping him, and crucially, what impact it had on him, and me, for different reasons.

My thought (ashamedly, but honestly) - ‘He’s stuck, he was careless, I don’t have time to get involved in the freeing of his van, I have so much work to be doing’

My feeling after helping him out - ‘He was reluctant to ask for help, he was embarrassed by what had happened, he had his boss telling him off down the phone as they’d need to come out and get him - and the relief and gratitude he showed after I helped demonstrated how big a deal it was, and how that 30 minutes made such a significant difference to his situation. It also ultimately impacted my day plan in no negative way whatsoever. If fact, the opposite occurred, in that the most time consuming, least directly valuable thing enhanced my