Lower Than the Lowest

A woman who was shot at the Las Vegas concert reported that as she lay wounded and waiting for help, somebody stole her wallet and cell phone. That reminded me of something that happened to my late father many years ago.

My father and brother were traveling from Virginia to North Carolina to visit me. My brother was driving the car. Another car, attempting to pass on the two lane road, ran my father’s car off the highway. The car left the highway and sailed off a 6-foot high embankment into a field. The car hit the ground upside down on a corner of its roof, then flipped over to end up on its four wheels where it came to a stop.

My brother escaped the car at once. My father was injured enough to require hospitalization. He was also stunned by the impact, and he was unable to open his door because of damage to the car’s frame. The door was jammed.

Several cars stopped along the highway and their drivers ran to the wreck to assist. As people gathered around the accident scene, an unknown man reached through the open window next to my father, grabbed my father’s arm, removed his wristwatch, and ran back to his car and drove off.

People. Some will give you the shirt off their back when you’re in need. They’ll risk their lives to save your life. But the good that those people do is offset by the actions of other people who are – how else can I put it? – lower than the lowest.