Do the actions of people and subsequent results from those actions serve to test our faith? Perhaps.
If you speak with a friend of mine her answer will be a resounding yes when it comes to the societal test. Actually, she’ll deliver her affirmation with a distinct tone of disappointment. Her faith in people is, by self admission, ebbing in small notches with each passing day.
As for me, I’m not sure how to answer the question, not just yet.
My friend was at work yesterday at Finn McCool's when a young man entered her establishment with a bit of a dilemma. He appeared to be a pleasant young man and, in explaining his problem, he seemed quite sincere. The details of his story were most specific, further upping the believability factor.
He informed my friend that he’d locked his keys in his Lexus a few blocks away and needed a locksmith. He wondered how much it might cost to pop the lock. My friend, having intimate experience with the locksmith world, told the man that it would be about $45 to $50. She apparently locks herself out a lot. I wonder if they have a frequent lock pop program?
The young man dialed the locksmith and confirmed that it would indeed cost $50. His second dilemma? He was short by $6.00 and asked if he might borrow the money from her. He assured that he worked for a very reputable establishment; he even dropped a few names of mutual acquaintance; adding even more credibility.
The young man promised my friend that he’d be back before the end of her shift to pay her and would even bring her lunch as an added bonus! She wasn’t concerned about scoring a meal as much as she was looking for this man to invalidate her growing sentiments about some people in this world. In a world where the lines of good and bad are ever increasingly blurred, she took a leap of faith and loaned him the money.
She told me what she’d done and openly hoped that this young man would not let her down. For her sake, I silently hoped for the same, but feared otherwise. I thought to myself that if this was a scam it was quite brilliant in its simplicity.
At some point or another we’ve all be panhandled for a buck here, a quarter there, maybe a cigarette here or spotting a beer for someone until payday. This guy, if it were indeed a scam, concocted a way to command SIX bucks! Not bad for 10-minutes of work.
When I saw my friend the following evening she immediately walked over to me. The jury was in…hopefully the actions of a stranded young man would prove to be an honest testament to a sincere story, thus propelling my friend’s faith in her fellow man to soaring heights. I waited for the verdict with a degree of anticipation as that of a young child on Christmas morning scanning beneath the tree.
And, much like the childhood feeling of receiving that pair of socks neatly wrapped in bright, festive paper, my heart sank. There would be no news to happily conclude this brief chapter in my friends life.
Perhaps, God forbid, he experienced some sort of an accident. Who knows? Maybe one day down the road he’ll burst through the doors in epic film hero fashion, riding a white horse with six dollars proudly raised above his head as the music builds to a triumphant crescendo. He might even pay her accrued interest AND have that lunch he promised!
Maybe he didn’t return because he was embarrassed about financial circumstances which have forced him to scrape together much needed money to support his family, or he must pay for an operation. Maybe his child needs new shoes. Or…he might indeed simply be a clever con artist.
Now that I think about it, events, and those people who bring them about,whether good or bad, both test and reinforce my faith in mankind.
While I accept the fact that there are indeed bad people in the world in which we live, my faith is a bit stronger today knowing that there are people such as my friend who took a $6.00 leap of faith. And I believe that there are many more like her.
With that in mind, I will sleep quite well this evening, and so should you.
copyright Pontchartrain Press 2010
