Friday, May 18, 2012

A random act of kindness lifts spirits in London

By Ian Johnston, msnbc.com

LONDON -- An apparently homeless man looks through a trashcan for food. Many people in big cities like London would simply walk on by.

But not Lewis Dediara. The 47-year-old was cycling to Parliament Hill park to fly a kite, when he noticed the ?clearly hungry? man and decided to help, the London Evening Standard reported.


He got off his bicycle and offered to buy the man food from a nearby store. The encounter was captured by a camera Dediara wears on his helmet after he was knocked off his bicycle twice by vehicles in the past, the paper said.

?Are you hungry sir? ... Tell me what you want. Go and pick whatever you like ? I?ll buy it for you, get anything you want,? Dediara says to the man.

'Is that all you want?'
The man picks up only a pint of milk and a bag of chips, and Dediara, who posted the video on YouTube, is heard asking more than once, ?Is that all you want? You sure??

The video, entitled "Always Help your Fellow Man," has gotten more than 60,000 views since it was posted on May 13.

Dediara, originally from Nigeria, told the Evening Standard he was ?astonished? by the popularity of the film.

"I saw this man standing there - he was clearly hungry. When I saw him rooting through the bin I couldn't just leave him there,? he told the paper. "I come from a family where we are raised to help others when we see them suffering. I should have bought him more than what he wanted. Next time I see him I'll buy him a burger."

He added he had put the clip on YouTube because "sometimes London is a place where people don't take the time to care for others."

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Comments added by people who viewed the video appeared to be mostly positive.

"Thank you mr cyclist man ! seeing this give me hope in humanity," one wrote.

"That is good, we need more people like you and I shall do? the same given the opportunity!" said another.

"One time outside a subway in canada some homless drug addict came to? me pan handling in exchange to wash my windows on my car. I didnt have cash so i bought him a sub. Best feeling ever...," wrote a third.

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There was, however, some cynicism.

"One side I feel good for what you did,? another side of me asks the question, would he have done that if not for the go pro [video] on his head?" wrote one viewer.?

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