By Danny P.
Some of the best deeds one can
perform are the ones that receive little or no recognition. I am no stranger to
these kinds of occurrences because I learned a long time ago that it’s
important to do good things regardless of public recognition. Sometimes, you
get a rewarding feeling from your good actions. Most often, it’s a feeling that
you can hold close and don’t necessarily have to tell people about. I don’t
care if anybody believes me on this one, but I once saved a man’s life and the
good deed went relatively unnoticed.
My most noteworthy good deed was
performed at Myrtle Beach during Senior-Week back in May of 2013. Some friends and
I went out to a nightclub on the second or third night of our trip. Everybody
else seemed to be having a good time, but I just wasn’t having the time of my
life in the noisy and overcrowded atmosphere. I stepped out to get some fresh
air and was separated from the rest of the group for the majority of the
evening. During this time, I ran into another friend of mine from back home who
was also having a night under par.
This friend’s name was Hunter and he
wasn’t enjoying himself at this club either. After some time passed, we decided
to go back in and hangout for a bit. Even though we were underage we were able
to full the bartenders into serving us alcohol. After a fairly intoxicating
amount of drinks, Hunter noticed this girl on the dance floor that he thought
to be pretty cute. It took me several minutes to talk him into getting up out
of his seat and approaching her.
When he finally went over and talked
to her, it took a little while for them to really hit it off. Eventually they
started dancing and once again, I stepped back outside for another breath (or
two) of fresh air. At this point, I checked my cellphone that had been on
silent most of the night and found a plethora of unread messages and missed
calls. Everybody from my group had thrown a fit and thought I was lost,
kidnapped, or worse. Everything was eventually settled and they were relieved
to know I had just gone for nice little stroll.
I was lucky enough to find out that
my friend Jake had made it to the car before everybody else had. I made it to
our parking spot and the two of us just played the waiting game from there.
About 3 or 4 minutes had passed when we saw a man stumbling his way to the car
that was parked diagonal to us. I can’t remember what kind of car it was, but
he was trying to unlock it the old fashioned way with the keyhole in the door.
It was quite clear that he was scratching the hell out of his car door with his
key when he finally got it opened. As he began to start the car, I can remember
Jake saying, “That guy is definitely gonna kill somebody on his way home
tonight.” Jake’s ex-girlfriend was also awkwardly waiting with us at the car
when she begged one of us to go over and say something to the guy.
I went over and talked to this man
who looked not much older than myself. I was able to probe enough information
from him to understand what drove him to this belligerently drunken state of
mind. His fiancée of about 2 years or so had just broke up with him earlier
that day for another man. He had been wasting away, getting drunk at the bar
next door to the nightclub since the early hour of that afternoon. By this
point it was close to 1 A.M.
I tried as hard as I could to
identify with this man and he kept telling me that he didn’t care what life had
in-store for him anymore. The point I was trying to make with him was that he
could really hurt someone else or even himself if he would’ve made the decision
to get behind the wheel that night. I embraced the poor guy and gave him a hug.
I might have even got some of his tears soaked into my t-shirt, but I told him
he was not leaving in his car that night. Our car was already packed so I
waited with him as he called for a ride and was eventually picked up.
By the time he was leaving, the rest
of my group of friends were making it back to the car and wondering who this
strange guy was. I had tried to explain the situation in a text message to one
of them minutes earlier but they didn’t believe that I was actually in a
situation like that. We all went back to the hotel after that and my friends
praised me like a hero for the duration of that night. Eventually, the week
carried on as planned and it seemed like everybody else distanced themselves
with the memory. Maybe it was because it was a blemish on their night of fun
and excess, or it could have had something to do with me getting all the
recognition for once. One thing I knew for sure was that it didn’t matter how
they all felt because I truly did something good. I stand by the decision to
talk to that guy to this day. I’ve had a lot of good days, but I think about
that night on the days that aren’t so good and I’ve been feeling down-and-out.
It is proof that good deeds are meant to make you feel god, not look good.
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