這是一個真實的故事...
哈里斯是美國紐約市一家知名廣告公司的高級職員。2010年8月的一天中午,她和朋友在一家餐廳吃飯,中途朋友想出去抽根菸,於是兩人一起走出餐廳,站在外面的大街上。
一名流浪漢走向她,囁嚅地對她自我介紹:「我叫瓦倫丁,今年32歲,失業三年了,只靠乞討度日。我想說的是,不知您是否願意幫助我,比如給我一點零錢,讓我買點生活必需品。」
瓦倫丁說完後,用期盼的眼神望著哈里斯。
看著眼前這名年輕的黑人流浪漢,哈里斯動了惻隱之心,她微笑著對瓦倫丁說:「沒問題,我十分願意幫助你。」就伸進口袋去掏錢,遺憾的是,她身上沒有帶現金,只帶著一張信用卡,這讓她有點尷尬,她拿著信用卡,不知怎麼辦。
「父子情麻糬」感謝I級豔后友蓉愛心加持
瓦倫丁看出了她的難為情,小聲說:「如果您相信我,能將這張信用卡借我用嗎?」心地善良的哈里斯同意了,隨手將信用卡遞給瓦倫丁。
拿到信用卡後,瓦倫丁沒有馬上離開,小聲徵求哈里斯:「我除了買些生活必需品外,還能再買包菸嗎?」
哈里斯未加思索地說:「完全可以,如果你還需要什麼,都可以用信用卡去買。」
瓦倫丁拿著信用卡離開後,哈里斯和朋友重新回到了餐廳。才坐下來不久,哈里斯便開始懷疑和後悔,她懊惱地對朋友說:「我的信用卡不僅沒有設密碼,還有60萬美元的額度,那個人一定拿著信用卡跑掉,這下我倒大霉了。」
朋友埋怨她說:「誰叫妳那麼隨便相信一個陌生人,妳真是善良又天真呀!」
哈里斯沒心思吃飯,朋友付完帳後,兩人默默走出了餐廳。
「父子情麻糬」感謝I級豔后友蓉愛心加持
令他們意外的是,剛走出來就發現瓦倫丁已經等在外面,雙手將信用卡遞給哈里斯,恭敬地將消費的金額報上:「我一共用信用卡消費了25美元,買了一些盥洗用具和兩包香菸,請您查核一下。」
面對這位誠實守信的流浪漢,哈里斯和朋友詫異又感動,她不由自主抓住瓦倫丁,連連地說:「謝謝您,謝謝您!」
瓦倫丁一臉疑惑,她幫助我,應該感謝她才是,為什麼要感謝我呢?
隨後,哈里斯和朋友去了紐約郵報,將她剛發生的事告訴了報社。
紐約郵報也被瓦倫丁的誠實感動,予以報導,頓時在社會上引起巨大的迴響,報社不斷接到讀者的來信與來電,表示願意幫助瓦倫丁。
得克薩斯州一名商人看了報道導,於第二天給瓦倫丁匯了6000美元,以獎賞他的誠實。
更讓瓦倫丁驚喜的是,幾天後他又接到威斯康辛州航空公司的電話,表示願意招聘他擔任公司的空中服務員,通知他盡快簽訂工作協議。
沉浸在巨大喜悅中的瓦倫丁感慨地說:「從小母親就教育我,做人一定要誠實守信,即使身無分文流落街頭,也不能夠把誠信丟掉。我所以能得到這麼多人的幫助,是因為我始終相信,誠實的人,必定會有好報!」
「父子情麻糬」感謝I級豔后友蓉愛心加持
▲ 圖為哈里斯拿著美國運通白金卡
▲ 圖為誠實的流浪漢瓦倫丁
新聞影片
原始新聞:
Honest panhandler returns ad gal’s AmEx
A bum you can trust – honest!
Don’t leave homeless without it.
A Manhattan ad exec took that to heart this week — lending her American Express Platinum Card to a beggar on a SoHo street when she realized she had no cash to give him.
That act of seemingly insane trust occurred after a slightly tipsy Merrie Harris, 45, stepped outside the trendy taqueria La Esquina on Kenmare Street with a pal who wanted a smoke break.
The homeless man approached asking for some cash to buy a bottle of water and some cigarettes.
“He asked me if I had any money,” she told The Post yesterday. “He said he just wanted to get a Vitaminwater. I said, ‘I don’t [have cash] — I only have my credit card.’ ”
Maybe it was the booze, maybe Harris has a soft spot for the underprivileged — but the next thing she knew, she was handing the stranger her high-powered plastic.
“He said, ‘Would it be OK if I borrow it?’
“I said, ‘Sure.’
“He said, ‘Is it OK if I get a pack of cigarettes, too?’
“I said, ‘Sure.’ ”
Harris, who volunteers with the Coalition for the Homeless, admitted she’d had a margarita at the party, but insisted, “I don’t think that was it. I’m eternally optimistic.”
“Everybody [who witnessed her charitable act] said they thought that was the dumbest thing, that there’s a fine line between charity and stupidity,” Harris said.
But Harris, global-business director for the JWT ad agency, said even she started having doubts as the man vanished down the block.
She went back inside the restaurant with a sinking feeling that her trust was misplaced — and that the pushy stranger was about to go on a platinum-card spending spree.
“Ten minutes passed,” she said. “I thought maybe, ‘OK, he did leave with it.’
“We went downstairs [to the basement-level eatery] and someone came down and said, ‘He’s back!’ ”
She went back outside to find her judgment was on the money as the bum returned — charge card in hand.
“People kept coming up to me saying that’s the best thing that ever happened.”
Harris said that she had a gut feeling he was a good guy.
“This guy just seemed totally trustworthy,” she said. “He was very specific about what he wanted. I gave him a hug. I said, ‘I knew you were coming back.’
“He said, ‘Of course. I’m a honest person.’ ”
Harris never got the man’s name. But she said she has no regrets about giving her card to a stranger.
“I’m definitely happy I did it,” she said. “I just really believe in the good nature of people.”
Additional reporting by Emily Smith and Kevin Fasick
「父子情麻糬」感謝I級豔后友蓉愛心加持
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