Jesus' Good Samaritan parable in Luke's gospel has to be one of the "top ten" bible passages in many peoples' repertoires, and the term Good Samaritan is part of our cultural vocabulary even if folk are vague about its origin. The last episode of Seinfeld was built around the conviction of the self-absorbed group of friends who are convicted of violating a Good Samaritan law and laughing at someone in distress.
Can you imagine if the parable concluded with the Samaritan who goes out of his way to help a man beaten and robbed getting fired for violating company policy? Read the story below:
HALLANDALE BEACH, FLA.—Lifeguard Tomas Lopez helped save a drowning man and got fired for it.T he reason?: he left the section of a south Florida beach his company is paid to patrol. The Orlando-based company, Jeff Ellis and Associates, says Lopez broke a company rule and could have put beachgoers in his section in jeopardy. The Sun Sentinel reported Lopez was on duty Monday at Hallandale Beach when a beachgoer asked for help. Lopez said he ran to assist a man struggling in the water south of his post. By the time Lopez arrived, witnesses had pulled the drowning man out of the water. Lopez and an off-duty nurse helped him until paramedics arrived. The victim survived and was hospitalized. Afterward, Lopez was fired.Two other lifeguards have quit in protest.
I blogged a while ago about a school bus driver who was fired for stopping to help a stranded motorist.The bus was empty and the driver was returning to the depot but he was dismissed for varying from his prescribed route.
Methinks the world is getting weirder. Your thoughts?
5 comments:
Why is policy so often at odds with common sense?
Imagine the uproar if he had stood by and watched the other soul die. Somehow, "that's not my area" wouldn't seem all that sturdy of an excuse, would it?
There are people that sit in an office infront of a computer, and write rules/ploicies. They think that they have everything covered, but they have never driven the bus, or seen a person in distress. Yet they feel infinately qualified to dictate the rules. No one should ever be in a position of power over anyone unless they have worked their up.
It infuriates me to think that they are so inflexable.
I hope the policy makers read these stories, and see how incredably stupid they are.
What both of you say is so true. It's interesting that in the original story of the Good Samaritan two people pass by the wounded man because of "policy."
Jesus extolls the spontaneity of compassion over rules and regs.
I understand he was offered his job back, he declined! What a commentary on the times we live in.
Great story in the Globe yesterday of a fellow running across Canada(?), inspired by Terry Fox's legacy and a young cancer victim but ordered off the roads by police, didn't comply, landed in jail and pledges spiked incredibly because of the attention....this story contrasted by an anonymous west coast family that donated millions (30, I think) to help young street kids living with mental illness..on top of your blog stories today had me thinking about the good in the world...altruistic.. a midst all the bad new stories. Thank God for these Good Samaritans!
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