Man Buys Dinner For His Mugger

When Julio Diaz stepped off the New York City subway platform after work one night, he was simply planning to walk over to his favorite local diner for a meal. But when a teenage boy approached him with a knife blade gleaming in his fist, Diaz, a 31-year-old social worker, knew the evening was about to take a more dramatic turn.

The young man demanded Diaz's wallet, and Diaz passed it over without objection. But just as his mugger turned to walk away, Diaz called after him: "Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something."

The mugger turned around, surprised.

"If you're going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm."

The teenager looked at Diaz in disbelief, and asked why he would do such a thing. Diaz replied, "!f you're willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money." He told the young man that he'd just been heading out for dinner, and that he would be happy for some company.

"You know, I just felt maybe he really needs help," Diaz told NPR's StoryCorps.

The young mugger decided to take Diaz up on his offer, and they headed into Diaz's favorite local haunt together. As they were sitting at the table, the manager, the dishwashers, and the waiters all stopped over to say hello to Diaz, and the young man was amazed at his popularity. "You're even nice to the dishwasher," he exclaimed.

"Haven't you been taught that you should be nice to everybody?" Diaz asked him.

"Yea, but I didn't think people actually behaved that way," the teenager replied. Thanks to Diaz, he was beginning to see that kindness wasn't such a strange phenomenon, after all.

When the bill came, Diaz told the teen that he'd have to get the check. After all, he still had Diaz's wallet.

But the teenager slid the wallet back across the table without a moment's thought, and Diaz treated him to dinner. Diaz also gave the would-be mugger a $20 bill to take with him - in exchange for the young man's knife.

"I figure, you know, if you treat people right, you can only hope that they treat you right," Diaz said. "It's as simple as it gets in this complicated world."

This story was originally posted at Gimundo.com.

Comments

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

03:03 PM on 04/08/2008

What a wonderful human being.

[unclebucky]

06:50 PM on 04/09/2008

Wonderful?

Well, let's not engage in hyperbole. He was (how about) an amazing teacher who knew about a teachable moment. He:

* Demonstrated what being a human being should be (Dumbya should see this).
* Recognized that the would-be mugger was a human being, too (McSame needs this story).
* Got his wallet back (heck of a problem replacing all that stuff, when the kid only wanted money).
* Shared dinner with the kid.
* Showed the kid how other human beings act.
* Gave him a bit of money to get started.
* Gave the kid some memories to live by.
* Maybe still gave him his coat (didn't Jesus say....)

And this whole story gets buried on the History page. Huffpost! Wake up!!!

Ugh. --UB.

[MelG1]

11:55 AM on 04/08/2008

One life at a time. Wonderful man.

[rrafiringa]

10:44 PM on 04/07/2008

An endemic man indeed. I hope that will set a precedent.

[ladygreenslippers]

07:33 PM on 04/07/2008

made me cry. thanks for reminding us that we're still capable of seeing through the hurt an pain of our children who know nothing else but, if we try. looks to me like what makes them just like our own children is not too far inside, and it hurts that they're out there instead of at home, with people who love them, eating a good meal, and feeling safe. we need to look out for ALL of America's kids.

[venicesurfer]

05:34 PM on 04/07/2008

after the teenager handed diaz the knife, diaz then stabbed the teenager in the heart.

huffpost for left that part out.

[AurigaRa]

04:09 PM on 04/07/2008

and he's a BROWN man, too.

[venicesurfer]

05:35 PM on 04/07/2008

yah, we're not all assholes.

[AurigaRa]

04:06 PM on 04/07/2008

if only everyone had the courage to do the same

There are lots of good Americans. We used to help each other.
But the righties and the media have done a great job of stirring up the differences and making sure we know our "enemies."

Remember about 3 or 4 yrs ago how even though immigration was a problem, it wasn't a BIG problem? Now it is and thanks to the rethugs and Lou Dobbs we're supposed to hate the brown people...instead of focusing on the corporations who break the law, and other minor things like THE WAR.

[unclebucky]

07:06 PM on 04/09/2008

Perfectly to the point! And why HuffPost needs to put this on the front page! :)

BTW, the only thing white on my computer is the background of this window. My hands are like golden oak, with streaks of brown. I really dislike it when people call me white. No one is white, except perhaps vampires (you know like McCain, Rove, Hannity, O'Reilly, Limbaugh, Hagee, Parsley, Huckabee, Romney, etc.).

The next time I get confused with a white person like those I mention above, I will scream! ;-)

Ugh. --UB.

[CraigWilloughby]

08:57 PM on 04/09/2008

LOL...you forgot Bush and the head Vampire, Vlad Cheney!!!

[Izadora]

12:46 PM on 04/07/2008

Extraordinary Man!

[fiatpax]

12:20 PM on 04/07/2008

Growing up I had always heard that New Yorkers were cold and uncaring. When I visited New York, I found just the opposite to be true. It seems there are news stories all the time that put the lie to the "cold and uncaring" myth, and show how many true heroes live there. New York can add Julio Diaz to its long list of heroes.

[situationcritical]

11:11 PM on 04/07/2008

Same experience here. I had major anxiety about ever visiting New York. I was sent there for work. I raced into my hotel room and locked the door and silently freaked out, and waited for the morning. It was late, and I was really, really, really, hungry. I ventured out (at 3 AM!!!) to a Deli where I was greeted with smiles and kindness. I couldn't believe it. The next morning I got up to walk to work down 5th Avenue, and New York was my town.

Same kind of experience my first visit to London, where people are said to cold and detached. I found them engaging and very friendly (very, very, very, very friendly :-P).

[sisterdebmac]

10:27 AM on 04/07/2008

Made me choke up and I just passed it along to friends. If only we could all do a little something to help someone in a worse situation than ourselves every once in a while... Is that asking too much?

[ming099]

09:52 AM on 04/07/2008

....I heard the interview with Diaz on NPR last week.....so I wouldnt think it is a hoax....just a truth is stranger than fiction story...........

[scottyboi84]

09:06 AM on 04/07/2008

This is a great story. This goes to show that there is still a spirit in America. Blind faith in kindness...I got a warm feeling inside reading this story. I wish I knew how to share this story, it would be great for the frontpage story on homepages like MSN, or Yahoo so that more people could access this little bit of sunshine...

[trish74]

02:47 AM on 04/07/2008

This is so wonderful. Diaz is kind as well as cute.

[YouThinkAndTalk]

01:29 PM on 04/07/2008

Is this what they call "inner beauty?"

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

03:02 PM on 04/08/2008

yes, yes it is.

[Dogma]

01:11 AM on 04/07/2008

Talk about 'What would Jesus do'...He'd do exactly this!

[Promise]

11:52 PM on 04/06/2008

How wonderful to read this after all the crummy stuff! For those of you who don't believe it...well i feel sorry for you. I hope someone takes you out to dinner soon!

[BARRISTER]

06:35 AM on 04/07/2008

And to think that the dumsass Press calls Crook Mccain an Hero! This Diaz is a REAL HERO!!!!

[AurigaRa]

04:07 PM on 04/07/2008

A hero 40 yrs ago does not a president make.