The Bottle Picker

An elderly man walking home from the store was attacked by a group of young boys. They stripped him of his jacket, groceries, and his wallet. They beat him up and left him lying half dead on the street.

By chance a church minister came along. When he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the street and passed him by.

A social worker walked over and looked at him lying there, but then went on.

But a bottle picker came along and when he saw him, he felt deep pity.

Kneeling beside him, the bottle picker soothed his wounds with medicine and bandaged them with the spare clothes from his shopping cart. Then he put the man on his cart and pushed him to a bus shelter out of the wind and the rain.

He flagged down a cab and gave the driver the twenty dollar bill he had just received at the recycling depot. He told the driver to take the man to the hospital, wait for him, and then take him home. 'If it costs more than that,' he said, 'I'll pay the difference the next time I see you.'

Now, which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the bandits' victim?