Being a Good Samaritan

I got out of the supermarket and I was putting my shopping in the car in their car park. I looked down, and there on the ground was a bee on its back with its legs moving weakly. It could have been a wasp, or a yellow jacket, or a bee as I suspected. The thing is, here it was, whatever it was, on its back and probably dying.

I did not know what to do. Leave it and drive off? Squash it and drive off? Call for an ambulance?

Was it hungry perhaps? Exhausted from flying too far away from its nest? Lost her direction and compass like so many people these days? 

These and many other questions crossed my mind which at the time were of no help to the creature on the ground. Like, I wonder whether I should buy more peanut butter seeing it is on offer.

Anyway, I went back into the supermarket and bought a small box of matches from their tobacconist counter. Not a big box. The one that is just the right size for a bee, or wasp, or yellow jacket.

I threw away the matches and put the bee in the box. (Note: For brevity I will refer to the creature as a bee from now on, even though it might be something else).

I still did not know what to do, having temporarily rescued the bee from its upside down fate on the ground. So I Tweeted about it and asked for suggestions.

Sadly, I have no Tweet followers so no one answered. I mean ... what is the point of being on Twitter if no one reads me? I'm not on Facebook, or WhatsApp, Instagram or any other such social media outlets. Did you know that FB has 2.9 billion Monthly Active Users and I am not one of them. And it's too late for the bee if I joined now.

So I drove aimlessly towards a vet which I knew existed in that part of town. I parked the car in the street and rushed into the building and told the receptionist this is an emergency.

She asked the nature of the problem. I put my hand in my trouser pocket to retrieve the matchbox and said, "I have the problem here!" 

She looked down at my hand in the trousers pocket and said, "This is not that kind of medical establishment Sir!"

"The problem is a bee!" I said in a low but very firm voice.

"Oh ..." she whispered, "did a bee sting you there?"

"No ..." I said taking out the matchbox; at which point the box fell to the ground and got accidentally open. The bee, suddenly revived I don't know how, got out and started flying all over the waiting room panicking all the other "patients" and their owners. 

There were dogs barking everywhere. Cats in cages jumping and scartching to get out.

An old lady dropped her cage with a parrot in it which started screeching and swearing in French! "Salaud ..." it kept screeching, "salaud ... salaud ... salaud ..." which means wooden clogs or shoes I think.

A hamster or gerbil escaped from someone's hands and ran all over the place followed by a Doberman and a Dachshund. At one point the Doberman bit the Dachshund which started screaming in pain. 

A young boy dropped his injured little bird and a cat pounced on it hoping for a quick meal.

Meanwhile all the humans where shouting and screaming trying to save their pets and avoid a flying bee going here there and everywhere causing pandemonium in the vet's establishment.

The receptionist accused me of deliberately causing a disturbance and asked her assistant to call the police. I tried to explain but no one would listen. A yappy little dog jumped off its owner's lap and bit my leg causing me to lean forwards and hitting my head on the receptionist's nose causing a nosebleed.

The vet and another man came in and tried to calm the situation down. Eventually the police arrived and asked me to go with them in another room.

I explained the situation. After a while they said that although my story did not sound plausible, other witnesses had said that it was accidental and that the matchbox fell to the ground and opened then; rather than me opening it. The other people also said that I looked innocent enough and the whole thing was not intentional.

I left the vet's practice leaving the bee behind, (assuming it was still there and had not flown out of the window).

I wonder if that little bird is OK and saved by its owner, or did the cat eat him.  

The Samaritan Today

 

Once upon a time an elderly man was making his way home through the park after a long day at work. Some youths set upon him. They were carrying knives. They mugged him, injured him badly and left him lying in a pool of blood.

A while later a city gent happened to pass by. He looked at the bleeding man on the ground and thought: This may be a trap. If I stop to help him someone might come out from the bushes and attack me. I'd better hurry home.

And so he did.

A while more later another man happened to come along. He saw the elderly man on the ground and thought: I'd better pretend not to have seen him. If I stop and call the police and ambulance they will ask me a lot of questions. They will want a lot of information. I'll be a witness and I'll probably have to go to Court eventually to say what I saw. I really can't be bothered with all this. I'd better rush home.

And so he did.

A few minutes later a learned man came by. He had studied sociology, philosophy, and many other important subjects and he was now a famous professor at the local University whose opinion and views were often sought on matters of importance. He looked at the injured man on the ground and thought: Whoever did this needs help. They must be from an under-priviledged background and up-bringing. Poor souls!

And he hurried home thinking about modern society and decided to write a paper on crime and poverty.

Two thousand years after Jesus told a similar story, (Luke 10:25), life hasn’t changed so much in this world.