A number of years ago my wife and I joined two other couples one Saturday to go to Los Angeles for a lecture and lunch. Like most friends we talked and laughed— thoroughly enjoying each other’s company. We parked down the street from the venue and spent a great day together. On the way back to the car, fully engrossed in conversation again, I noticed that our group had shrunk to only five—one of the husbands wasn’t in the group.
I looked around and saw my friend out in the middle of the street helping a confused and partially blind woman back to safety from the middle of a busy highway. Only he had noticed her. The rest of us were so engrossed in each other that we’d lost all sensitivity to our surroundings. My friend, on the other hand, was alert to the need and immediately reached out to this individual with care and kindness.
It’s a small experience, but I have never forgotten it. Why was I not aware of this individual in need of another’s helping hand? Why was I not alert?
