The Farmer and the Viper Revisited

A couple of weeks ago, I discussed the Aesop's fables of "The Farmer and the Viper" and the "The Scorpion and the Frog," Both warm that evil people will act according to their nature, and being a good Samaritan to the wrong people can get you killed. My prior article was about Kayla Mueller who trusted that she could enter Syria and, because she was an aid worker, somehow be immune from the evils of the groups fighting for control there. But it is a risk here, as well. Case in point, as reported at The Daily Mail:

An Atlanta couple have told of the terrifying moment four men pretending to have had car troubles burst into their home and robbed them at gunpoint, shooting the father-of-two in front of his children.

Mike and Whitney Lash had just returned to their house with their two young children on August 16 when the men knocked on their door.

Mr Lash answered the door, and the men said they had just moved down the street but had a flat tire and wanted to borrow a jack, but Mrs Lash felt something was amiss from the start.

'I had a feeling that it was an excuse and we were about to be robbed. Right about that moment I saw them pull the gun on Mike,' she told ABC News.

As Mr Lash saw the gun, he tried to slam the door shut, but two other men suddenly appeared.

Mr Lash was shot three times in the his right leg as he attempted to keep the men out of his house.

The four men then forced their way in.

Mr Lash believed the gang were going to kill him and started praying.

'Lord, this is, I guess, the moment I will meet you today … if it is not your will, I am ready to stay,' he recalled.

Mrs Lash grabbed the couple's six-month-old daughter, Lucy, and the phone and ran into the yard calling 911.

Their other child, two-year-old Everson, was upstairs sleeping.

'I heard footsteps of someone running and two more shots that were aimed at me and my daughter,' Mrs Lash told ABC.

The intruder then caught up to her and the child and brought them back into the house.

Although the story is somewhat lacking in details, it appears that Mr. Lash simply threw the door open without ascertaining the identity of his visitors. Don't do that!

It is not uncommon for criminals to lure in a victim by pretending to need help or be hurt. A former colleague of mine, in explaining some bruises and scabs he picked up while on vacation, related that he and a friend had been walking back to their car when they saw a guy laying on the ground with another man next to him acting excited and calling them over for help. When they got close, two other men jumped out of some bushes and started to attack them. Fortunately, my colleague reacted quickly, kicking the one on the ground so he couldn't get up, and landing some solid blows on a couple of the others before grabbing his friend and running away.

I remember several years ago driving home with my family from a movie that let out late. It was dark. Turning a corner on which there was a convenience store, I noticed a young women laying on the ground around the side of the store. For just a second, I almost pulled in to see what was the matter, but resisted the urge. Sure enough, as I drove past, I looked into my mirror and saw the woman jump up, and a young man appear from the shadows. I'm sure she was bait for a trap.

The lesson here is that your need to feel better about yourself by being polite or helping someone is not worth the life or health of yourself or your family. I'm not saying to never help the person that comes to your door for assistance, or that is stranded along the road, but to act with prudent care.