The
One Legged Man
Our family was on our way to the lake for an afternoon of
fishing when we noticed a man hobbling down the road.
“Look,
mama! That man’s walking with a crutch,” said Cliff
As we drew
closer, Chris said, “he’s only got one leg!”
I turned to my husband, “Joe, we ought to
help him,” The man seemed to be struggling, but with determination and courage
he plodded along. Our hearts melted.
“He probably
doesn’t live far,” said Joe, “we can take him home and still go fishing.” The
boys sat in the back seat of the old brown Rambler station wagon with downcast
faces.
Joe pulled the car up beside the one
legged man, stuck his head out the window and asked, “Would you like a ride?”
“Yes,
thank you,” said the man. Joe jumped out of the car and helped the man into the
back seat beside the boys. There was a slight unfamiliar odor. His hands were
rough, but his face was kind. Joe bounced back into the driver’s seat and
turned facing the man.
“Where to sir?” Well, my mouth flew
open and you should have seen the look on Joe’s face— the man said, “Johnson
City.” Johnson City was 150 miles away!
The man introduced
himself as Sam and described himself as a railroad bum who had lost his leg
several years back while trying to catch a train. He was accustomed to living
outside.
I wondered why he had
chosen to live always on the move, always outside and always alone. I imagined
his wife had left him, or a child had died or perhaps he had done something in
his earlier days that made him want to escape. We
learned that Sam had walked about 300 miles from Memphis, Tennessee. He
apologized for his dirty clothes and talked about how he had been attacked by
dogs that didn’t understand his crutch. He left Memphis with $3.27 which was
used for bus fare and had hitched or walked the remainder of the way, resting
and sleeping on the roadside. Sam had not eaten in two days, but he didn’t
complain. He was determined to get to Johnson City because once he had been a
soldier and the Veterans Hospital there had promised to fit him with a
prosthesis.
After hearing Sam’s
story, Joe was determined not to put him out to walk again.
“We want to help you,”
I said. “You have obligations to your
children,” said Sam, “maybe you can help me with bus fare?”
“I only have $8.00,” said Joe, “we
don’t have a bus station, but there is one in Crossville.” Crossville was 30
miles away, but seeing as how 150 miles was the other option, it appeared to be
the better choice. When we arrived in Crossville, Tennessee it was about 3:00
p.m. The bus station was closed on Sunday afternoon, but there was a sign on
the door:
Bus
Schedule
Crossville to Johnson City
with
layover in Knoxville
departure
4:00 p.m.
Pay
the bus driver.
Joe drove over to a restaurant and spent $3.00 of his $8.00 on a
hamburger for Sam. He gave Sam the remaining $5.00 for bus fare. At 4:00 p.m.
Sam boarded the bus and we headed home. But on the way I began to wonder if
$5.00 would be enough to get Sam to Johnson City. What if they put him off the
bus?
“We’d better do something to make sure
he gets there,” I said.
“What do you want me to do?” asked Joe,
“I think we’ve already gone the second mile.”
“Call
the bus line.”
“Do what?” said Joe, “you call them.”
“Yes, we just gave a one legged man
$5.00 and put him on a bus headed toward Johnson City. I'm afraid he doesn’t
have enough money to get him there.”
“What do you want me to do? I can’t
help you,” said the clerk. “Do
you have a supervisor?” I asked. After
listening to my story the supervisor hesitated.
“I’m
desperate, please do something,” I said. “He doesn’t deserve to be put off the
bus.
The
supervisor said, “We’ll make sure he gets there!”
Needless to say, Cliff and Chris
didn’t get to go fishing that day and to this day we still wonder about the
fate of the one legged man.
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