Love & Compassion on Pump 8
The call came out as an accident under the highway. It was early and I had just had my coffee so I was bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready to crime fight. The call wasn’t assigned to me, but I was closer so I figured I would head that way to see if I could begin helping until the primary officer arrived. As I approached the vehicle it didn’t appear to be involved in a crash. Then a young black male with dreadlocks got out of the vehicle and began to approach me. I noticed his hands were in the air. I quickly got out of my vehicle and began asking if he was okay. I started to look for any signs of intoxication or suspicious activity as he appeared very nervous. It didn’t take long for me to realize that he wasn’t a threat. His hands were still in the air as if he was scared, but desperate for help. I closed the gap in distance between us as I reassured him that I was here to help. Then I saw his shoulders drop and relief on his face as he told me he just ran out of gas. Boy, do I know what that feels like! We quickly put together a plan to safely get him out of the roadway and into the parking lot of the nearest gas station. I used the push bumper on my patrol car to push his vehicle out of the road while he rolled into a parking space at the gas station across the street. The young man thanked me several times and said he was going inside to buy a gas can. As I began to drive away, I noticed his windows were rolled down and with such a nice car in a sketchy area of town, I didn’t feel comfortable leaving the vehicle unattended. I took note of the Arkansas plate and remembered him saying he wasn’t from around here. There weren’t any calls holding on the screen so I decided to turn my patrol car around and standby until the young man returned. He was inside the gas station for what seemed like forever. When he exited I noticed a look of disappoint on his face. He informed me the gas can alone was $20 and his card wasn’t working. I smiled and challenged him. “Do you think we can line this car up next to a pump?” He looked confused. I said, “if we can align it next to one of the pumps I’ll buy your gas.” He looked at me with disbelief. Together we once again came up with a plan and successfully pushed his car next to pump 8. I pumped his gas while we chatted like old friends. When the pump finished, the young man looked at me teary eyed and said, "I can’t thank you enough." He said, “you know, with everything going on you don’t expect a cop to do something like this.” I smiled at him again and said, “well, even cops have tough days and people have poured love into me on my worst days so it’s easy to want to do the same for you.” Naturally, as a hugger, I wanted to give him a big hug especially after everything he shared with me while we pumped gas, but we high-fived instead. He drove off one way and I drove off the other way. Two strangers going opposite directions in life, but on the same path of compassion and gratitude. Thank God for moments like these! The very moments that keep me in this career field when society threatens to force me out. To all those that have poured love into me over the years, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! And a very special shout out to Officer Heidi Lowery (#1556) of East C.R.T. who rolled in like the true hero she is when I ran out of gas on the highway a few weeks ago!!! That certainly went down in history! Because of God’s favor and amazing people like you I can then pour into others far more than just gas on pump 8. P.S. Please don’t tell anyone about me running out of gas!!! 😂😂😂❤️💪 ⛽️💙🚔 #Embarrassed #Grateful #Transparent #Human #Badge
