When I was a freshman in high school, a good friend and I decided to skip school, you know, play hooky. We were sitting out in the parking lot before school, and we just decided not to go to class. We had no idea what we were going to do or where we were going to go, we just didn’t want to go to school. Neither one of us could drive, so our feet were our mode of transportation. In no particular direction, we just started walking.

Back in the early eighties, one could actually skip school and get away with it, at least I did. If you could forge your parents’ name, then a note signed by one of them was all you needed to get off the hook. There were no cell phones or social media, so it was not particularly hard to hide away for a while. I personally had my dad’s signature down solid. Handing a note to the office secretary signed by my dad stating I was ‘home with a fever’ was an easy process and it always worked.

With no idea of how we were going to spend the next several hours, we decided to walk across the street to an apartment complex where one of our friends lived that had a pool table in their community room.

Walking through the complex, we heard a police car siren blare and a voice boom over a loudspeaker. “Boy’s, stay where you are.”

My friend and I looked at each other and made a poor decision, we decided to run instead of surrender. We took off in the same direction and I could hear the wheels on the car spinning on the asphalt. He was going to cut us off at the pass.

The apartment complex had a six -foot cinder block wall surrounding the back of the complex to protect it from idiots like us. We had to clear the wall or face the law. At that time, the choice was simple, go for it.

The wall appeared to get taller and taller the closer we got. I scaled the wall after a few attempts and began to run across the open field to safety. Then I noticed that my friend was not with me. I had no trouble getting over the wall because I was a stick, my good friend however was going through his pudgy stage of puberty and was not as nimble.

I ran back and I could see his fingertips gripping the top of the wall. They were red from the strain, and I could hear him grunting and groaning in an effort to get over. He did manage to get one foot on top of the wall but struggled to finish the climb.

He yelled, “I can make it!” He lost his grip, and his boot slipped off…that being the only thing that cleared the wall. At about that time, I heard the police car siren blare again and a voice over the loudspeaker, “Son, don’t make it any worse. Just stop where you are.”

My friend was just too exhausted to run anymore and he surrendered reluctantly. I listened to the exchange of words between my friend and the police officer. The officer asked about me, but like a true friend, he didn’t know a thing.

My friend needed my help to get over the wall, but I was too focused on saving myself to notice. It’s funny how you can learn life lessons from the simplest of things.

I felt like I let him down by not being sure he cleared the wall. I left him hanging, literally, on a cinder block wall. I know this is a silly story, but it does offer a serious message.

I should have stopped at the top of the wall and checked on him. I could have reached back and offered him a helping hand, but I didn’t. I should have stopped focusing on myself and taken the time to check on a friend in need. I made it to the top of the wall, but my friend didn’t. He needed my help to get there, but I was long gone.

I ask myself often if I am reaching back to help others along the way. If I am taking the time to check on those that may be lagging behind or need a helping hand. I know in my life; others have extended a hand to help me climb a wall.

“Hey, give me your hand and hold on, I got you.”

In life, sometimes you are extending your hand to help, or you are extending your hand for help. Both are good.

We both got busted for skipping and received three swats each from the head football coach. I regretted taking the day off from school, but not nearly as much as I regretted abandoning my friend at the wall. Silly story, serious lesson.

“Stopping your climb to reach back and help another person is as unselfish an act as there is. All attention is focused on the one in need, helping them get their footing so they can begin their climb again.”

 – Jackson Leggit

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Todd Howey is a columnist for BrownwoodNews.com whose articles appear on Fridays. Email comments to [email protected].