Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Charles Ramsey is awesome

I posted approximately a week ago a story about hearing one of my neighbors say "help, help" late one night.  I was talked out of going over to help the guy by my friend Brandon who was visiting from California as well as Anthony.

That incident bothered me because I felt like I should have gone over to help the guy.  Brandon talked me into calling the police instead and the neighbor got the help he needed, but I thought I should have done more.

The big national story of the day today is from Ohio.  Three women were discovered in a rundown house south of downtown Cleveland.  The women included Amanda Berry, Gina Dejesus, and Michelle Knight.  They had been missing since the early 2000's and held captive in the house.

Charles Ramsey has been made into a hero of sorts.  He lived across the street from the house and heard a woman screaming.  He went to investigate.  Charles and another guy helped her get out of a locked door and after calling 911, it was discovered the three missing women had been held in captivity for approximately a decade.

Charles did, in my opinion, the right thing.  He's being hailed as a hero.  Unfortunately, there are too few people these days that would do what he did.  He was sitting on his porch eating a McDonald's Big Mac and went over to try and help still holding his sandwich.

One great part of this story is that Charles was interviewed tonight on CNN's AC360 with Anderson Cooper.  He is possibly eligible for a reward for his role in freeing the women.  Charles told Anderson that he would give any money to the victims because "I have a job".  He works at a Cleveland restaurant employed as a dishwasher.  Not only was he helpful, he isn't greedy.

Thanks Charles for doing the right thing.  There are a lot of people that could learn from your example.

For an article on the incident from the Huffington Post, click here.  An interview posted on the Daily Beast in which he says "I'm a man, bro." Click here.  And, an awesome version of an interview with Charles that has been turned into an auto-tune song, "Dead Giveaway". Click here