The old man on the road

A few days ago, I was rushing to get to the office. It was around 2 p.m. and it was very hot outside, the air conditioner in the car did not work which made things even “better.” My mind was full of tasks and I was juggling with all of them trying to figure out how to proceed, to be more effective, do more and finish on time so I could spend some quality time with my family.

As I was driving through the village we live in, an old man was waving at me. I had not seen him before in the village and I usually do not stop my car for strangers, but this time I heard this inner voice telling me stop, stop the car. The old man looked like he needed help, it was so hot and I knew I would regret leaving him there all my life if I passed him. Therefore, I decided to stop my car and kindly ask him if everything was okay and if he needed something. I saw that he did not have any water and got worried he might get dehydrated or have a sunstroke.

He told me he was looking for his nephew who bought a house in the village but could not find him and kindly asked me if I could drive him to the city. I do not do this ever, but something in me said do it, help him, and so I did. I helped him with his backpack and his seatbelt and apologized for the lack of an air conditioner and we took off.

He was so grateful and I felt good for not leaving him outside in this August heat. He shared a bit about his life with me; he was born at the end of 1944. We talked about life, he talked about how lucky he is because another lady drove him the other day to the village and we both agreed that there are good people on this planet. Several times, I asked him where to leave him in the city; he said that wherever I leave him it is fine. I was a bit confused but decided that he did not want to take more of my time or push his luck, so I told him that we are going to my office and I insist he come in and have some water. His world lit up. When I parked the car he was so grateful and wanted to buy me some ice cream. I said that it is ok and not to think about it. He came to the office and my staff immediately gave him some water and some sweets. He was very grateful and soon left the office.

Suddenly, one of my employees came to me and said: I think he has dementia, what if he escaped or got lost and they are looking for him. I got scared. I noticed that some words were difficult for him to remember and from time to time, he stopped talking in the middle of his sentence. However, I am not a professional and I have never seen a person with dementia, so I cannot make a conclusion.

I was worried, but we decided we would not go further, we did not call the police. Something in me said you did enough, do not worry. Days are passing by, I still think about him, I hope he is well.