\nTwo drunk teenagers start harassing an old lady on a bus until a homeless man steps in and stops them \u2014 and it transforms his life. Molly walked up the steps into the bus with great difficulty and was grateful when she felt a strong hand under her elbow, helping her up. She turned her head to smile her thanks and cringed.The hand cupping her elbow belonged to a tall thin scarecrow of a man, clearly homeless, and none too clean. Molly jerked her arm away from the man and said stiffly, \u201cThank you.\u201d The man smiled sadly. He was used to disgust in people\u2019s faces, the rejection. But Tom was still himself, no matter what. He watched as Molly sat down, her bulk filling two seats.There was something about her that reminded him of his mother.\n
\n
His mother would also have been disgusted to see him in this state. Tom walked to the back of the bus where he could sit on his own. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He couldn\u2019t stop thinking about his little Daisy, and how she had clung to him. Two years ago, his wife Valery had been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, and her death had left their lives in shambles. For 18 months, Tom had poured their savings into treatments for Valery, even borrowed money against their house, but it was all in vain. Valery died, and Tom had to sell their house to pay off the debts. His boss lost patience with his constant absences as Valery\u2019s carer and fired him. From one day to the next, Tom had lost his home, his job, and with Valery dead, all he had left was his daughter Daisy. After the house was sold, Tom had been forced to move with Daisy to a one-bedroom apartment in a decayed inner-city apartment building with graffiti on the walls, and the stench of human refuse in the hallways.\n
Don\u2019t judge people by their appearance. When Child Services had come calling, the inevitable happened: they took Daisy away from him, and Tom could only see her by appointment at the group home. Soon, Tom was on the streets, and his only luxury was a bus ticket so he could see Daisy. Tom was deep in his reverie when the sound of a loud voice made him open his eyes and sit up. \u201cLooky here, driver!\u201d said a teenager Tom could tell straight away was inebriated.\n
\u201cThis here lady has to pay for TWO tickets!\u201d The teen was standing in front of Molly, swaying and grinning. His friend, equally young and drunk, swaggered over. \u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d he sneered. \u201cYou gotta pay EXTRA for the extra seat!\u201d Molly cringed and clung to her purse, and the other passengers around her studiously looked away. She could tell not one of them would move a finger to defend a fat old woman from these drunk teens, not even if they decided to rob her. The first teen leaned over and poked her on the chest. \u201cYou need to MOVE, lady!\u201d he said. \u201cMy friend and I want those seats.\u201d Molly lifted her chin. \u201cYoung man, there are plenty of other seats empty!\u201d The second teen stepped forward. \u201cSure there are, but we want THOSE seats, and you\u2019re gonna give them to us!\u201d The teen reached for her and MOlly could smell the alcohol in his breath. He was about to grab onto her when a powerful voice intervened. \u201cGet your hands off that lady, my friend, or you and I are going to tango!\u201d At the sound of that voice, the teen leaped back and turned around. Molly was stunned to see the homeless man who\u2019d helped her onto the bus walking towards the teens. The man looked a lot bigger, and he held his head high.\n
\u201cYou two boys can go quietly, or I can help you off, but you\u2019re getting off the bus,\u201d he said calmly. The teens looked at him and Molly saw a shadow of fear cross their faces. It was one thing to pick on a helpless old woman, it was another to tangle with the tall wiry man standing before them. Tom\u2019s clothes might be ragged and worn, but he moved like a man who knew how to take care of himself. At that moment the bus stopped, and the two teens scurried down the steps, looking back fearfully over their shoulders at Tom. Tom stepped towards Molly and asked gently, \u201cMa\u2019am, did those boys hurt you? Do you need help?\u201d Molly looked at Tom with tears in her eyes. \u201cI\u2019m alright,\u201d she said. \u201cThanks to you. Please, will you accompany me? Help me home?\u201d Tom nodded. \u201cOf course, Ma\u2019am. Anything I can do.\u201d When they arrived at Molly\u2019s stop, Tom helped her down and walked her to her apartment building. Molly insisted that Tom come up and have a slice of apple pie and a cup of coffee. Over the pie and coffee, Molly learned Tom\u2019s story and she frowned. \u201cI wonder\u2026\u201d she said and fished out her cell phone. She started talking to someone, asking if a certain job was still available, then turned to Tom with a triumphant smile.\n
\u201cMy son has a farm upstate, and his right-hand man just quit. He\u2019s looking for a hardworking man and I think you might be it!\u201dTom was stunned! \u201cBut\u2026I don\u2019t know anything about farming!\u201d \u201cI told my son that, but I also told him you were strong and determined and that you could learn anything,\u201d Molly said. \u201cAnd you have a mighty big incentive to make it. Am I wrong?\u201d Tom shook his head with tears in his eyes. \u201cThe job comes with a pretty little cottage and a good salary, insurance, and everything,\u201d Molly added. \u201cI have a feeling that in a few months you\u2019ll have your Daisy back!\u201d And it all worked out just as Molly had predicted. Tom and Molly\u2019s son worked well together, and six months after he started working, Child Services gave Daisy back to her daddy and they started a new life.\n
What can we learn from each other? By helping others, we help ourselves. Tom helped Molly, and in return, he got his life and his daughter back. Don\u2019t judge people by their appearance. Molly wasn\u2019t impressed by Tom\u2019s ragged looks, but he ended up being her rescuer.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Two Teenagers Mock Poor Old Lady on the Bus until Voice of Homeless Man Interrupts Them \u2014 Story of the Day Two drunk teenagers start harassing an old lady on a bus until a homeless man steps in and stops them \u2014 and it transforms his life. Molly walked up the steps into the bus\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":110159,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[642,855],"tags":[818],"class_list":{"0":"post-89920","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-moral-story","8":"category-story","9":"tag-moral-touching-stories"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/teen-mock-old-bus.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89920"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89920\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110161,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89920\/revisions\/110161"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}