My parents always raised me to have strong values and hold firm to my convictions in life, and this was never more exemplified than when a situation arose when it would be easy for most people to ignore it.
A gentleman at my father's work began to come into work smelling continually of body odor and personal neglect, and as the months went by, showed signs of confusion. After being told to pick up papers at another building, he would be found sitting at his desk staring at his shoes; after being reminded (to which he would completely believe he hadn't been told the first time), he would be found once again sitting at his desk in the same position. This happened to worsening degrees over a few months and his coworkers either ignored it or were ignorant to this due to a lack of social interaction with the man.
My father began to mentally record all of this and finally sat down with him one day when he was found two hours after work was out, sitting in his car, looking like he didn't know where to go.
Apparently the gentleman was in the beginning/middle stages of Alzheimer's and was being financially taken advantage of by his children, who used his forgetfulness as a reason to ask him for money every few days. My father took this man to a hospital (for the first time in years) to be properly assessed, then worked with the county to get a caretaker to watch over his condition. He then went to the man's house and helped him sort out all of his financial matters and get his retirement set up; they went to the bank and had a government worker ensure that his bills would be paid for and his children would no longer get to treat him like a personal ATM.
That my father took this much personal time to help another man that so many had forgotten or would choose to neglect, or even make fun of, truly shows his character. Thanks to him, this man can now live securely and be taken care of in a frightening time.
