Two unrelated stories from America showing two sides to human nature. The first is quite amusing, and tells how a woman, Denise Rebelato, arriving at JFK Airport took a taxi to her Boston home and racked up a $980 fare (that’s about £600) for the 200 mile journey – which she couldn’t afford to pay. She could have taken a bus for $35. According to the story, she sounds like a right fruitcake.
The second story is quite heart-warming. A man identified only as “James” was involved in a motor accident, for which he received a ticket. In order to attend court over the matter, and since his car had been written-off in the accident, he left his shelter (he’s homeless) at 1am in sub-zero temperatures (it was –10, and since we’re talking about the USA, that must be –10 Fahrenheit – or -23°C in British money) in order to walk the 30 miles to the courthouse. A cop, Andy Blimline, who was at the courthouse couldn’t believe James had walked and paid his $80 taxi fare back to the shelter after the hearing. What a great guy.