Foe to Friend

A friend of mine forwarded me a link to the article: A Victim Treats His Mugger Right and I must say it definitely struck a cord with me. A 31 year old man named Diaz was mugged on his way to the Bronx, but through his exceptional kindness, changed the attitude of his mugger. When the teen asked Diaz for his wallet he gave it to him voluntarily, then he told the teen, "Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you're going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm." The teen was understandably confused and surprised. The teen then accepted Diaz's invitation for a meal and they talked.

How remarkable is it that in one instance this desperate teen was ready to stab and possibly kill Diaz for his wallet and in another, as a result of the victims compassion, completely changed his mind and befriended the man?! Its a testimony to the notion that those who make act irrationally may need our compassion the most. Its not those that act perfectly that deserve our love, its those that may be hurting that NEED our love.

Its easy to write off this situation by saying that what he did was dangerous and that he was being self righteous or a hero. But I challenge those who make these very claims to attempt such an act of kindness and see how much situations can be altered by our attitudes and love for others . Diaz's was courageous to offer an olive branch to this misguided teen and was rewarded not only by the prevention of a legitimate crime but also with the addition of a new person to his social network (not facebook). To this teen, Diaz very much could have been a reflective pause on his dangerous path or at a minimum found Diaz as an easy way to get 20 bucks so he didn't have to mug for it that particular day. In either case, its not the outcome that signifies such a story, but the novel actions that were performed which boldly highlights the strength of character and depth of empathy Diaz displayed towards the teen.

Before reading this article, I surely know that I would have quickly turned the cold shoulder, became angry, and condescendingly written this teen off as a product of a poor environment and lacking a functioning conscience. While many people may call me out on that, the truth is that many would do the same and not have the courage to say so. When asked why he did it, Diaz simply responded :

"I gave him $20 ... I figure maybe it'll help him. I don't know...I figure, you know, if you treat people right, you can only hope that they treat you right. It's as simple as it gets in this complicated world."

Simple! No Ego! No Anger! No Vengeance! Just compassion.

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind - Mahatma Gandhi