John Locke (Johnny to his friends) and Tom Hobbs (Thomas to everyone else because he has no friends) are driving home from a Celtics game which the C’s have beat the Lakers. The C’s this season are populated by stars, yet work together generously as a team. Tom is at the wheel. In the distance on a suburban street a young couple appears helpless as they stand in front of a car with an apparently dead battery. The man holds up a pair of jumper cables looking for a jolt to get their car started again. Tom ignores the man and drives by.
“Why didn’t you stop?” asks John.
“It’s probably a scam.”
“What kind of scam? He just needs a shot from your battery.”
Tom feels put out, but stops the car, puts it in reverse and drives back to the couple. John hops out of the car and together he and the grateful man get their car started.
As Tom and John drive away, Tom grumbles, “They didn’t even say thank you!”
“Did you stop because you wanted to be thanked?”
“A little gratitude would’ve been appreciated.”
“That’s not the reason you do it. You stop because it’s the right thing to do, not to get a reward.”
The two debate this until they part.
The names have been changed to protect the innocent and the guilty (depending on your point of view), but the story is true. The tension between being gullible or altruistic is as old as the story of the Good Samaritan who, unable to verify if the wounded man on the road is covered by Blue Cross, trusts his instincts and helps anyway.
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