Wow. I thought the headline said New York police officer gives the boot to homeless man. Instead it was about an NY cop who gave socks and boots to a street guy one night recently, not knowing he was being watched. Read this:
NEW YORK — A tourist's photo of a New York City police officer giving new boots to a barefoot homeless man in Times Square has created an online sensation.
Jennifer was visiting the city with her boyfriend on Nov. 14 when she came across the shoeless man asking for change. As she was about to approach, she said the officer — identified as Larry DePrimo — came up to the man with a pair of all-weather boots and thermal socks on the frigid night.
She recorded his generosity on her cellphone. The photo shows the officer kneeling beside the man with the boots at his feet.
The photo was posted Tuesday night to the NYPD's official Facebook page and became an instant hit. More than 325,000 users ``liked'' it as of Thursday morning, and more than 79,000 shared it.
Thousands of people commented, including one person who praised him as ``An officer AND a Gentleman.''
The NYPD Facebook page on Thursday posted a comment from DePrimo saying, ``I didn't think anything of it.''
The homeless man has not been identified.
``'I have these size 12 boots for you, they are all-weather. Let's put them on and take care of you,''' Foster quoted DePrimo as saying. ``The officer squatted down on the ground and proceeded to put socks and the new boots on this man. The officer expected NOTHING in return and did not know I was watching.''
Foster said she's worked in law enforcement for 17 years and has never been more impressed.
``His presentation of human kindness has not been lost on myself or any of the Arizona law enforcement officials with whom this story has been shared'' Foster wrote on Facebook.
I immediately thought of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, an example of humble, servant love. And I bet their feet smelled better.
Comments?
3 comments:
THIS is the kind of thing the major news outlets need to bring forward more often. Monkey see, monkey do.
Very touching and heartwarming. I have found NYPD officers to be very approachable and friendly, but this guy is in another class!
It reminds me of a time when I was in Times Square, amid all the usual bedlam and craziness, and an officer kindly requesting a t-shirt vendor to not call out loudly while trying to sell his goods. I had to laugh.....the sound level was already deafening, and this guy's voice was hardly making a difference. I guess the result was a millionth of a decibel less noise.
I saw a follow-up interview with the officer and I appreciated his comment that this kind of stuff is not unusual nor uncommon, it happens all the time. The only difference is that a photo was taken and it went viral. As Ian says, these stories need to be told. They feel good and they make people do good. If media is supposed to be a reflection of the news that people are asking for, then why are stories or photos such as these going viral only on social networking sites? I would think that sites like facebook and youtube are a pretty good reflection of what the average person wants to see and their stats of close to a million views should be a good indication that people appreciate hearing about these stories.
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