Going Up the River

[Listen to Audio]  Some friends had just treated Joy and me to dinner in an upscale restaurant in a large urban setting. On the way to the parking deck, I glimpsed a man holding a toddler in one arm and a bit of cardboard with handwriting on it in his free hand.

The light was muted and the man was at a little distance, so I couldn’t read the message on the makeshift sign. But I knew that he was asking for help.

Nobody else in the group saw the two of them. I let the group’s momentum and the rest of the pedestrian traffic sweep me on toward the car.

And I regretted it. I still do.