Officer Lance Hoffmeister was on routine patrol when he spotted something that didn’t belong on a busy highway.
Actually, he spotted someone.
His normal day was going to turn out to be an adventure.
While driving along a busy highway in Tennessee, Officer Hoffmeister spotted an elderly woman in a blue sweater pushing her wheelchair walker on the side of the road.
He stopped and asked her what she was doing and where she was going.
“She was like oh yeah yeah I’m just getting to my hair appointment,” Officer Hoffmeister said. “I asked her if she would rather have a ride and she definitely said she would appreciate the ride.”
It turns out the elderly woman took the bus but the bus didn’t stop at her destination. She still had a mile to walk before she could reach the Paul Mitchell salon, where she had her appointment.
This sounds crazy because it is!
She would have had to walk the busy highway and turn at an intersection, where she still needed to walk a few meters to the salon.
Thank goodness Officer Hoffmeister was driving down that highway at that moment.
They ended up bonding over a nice conversation during the ride to the salon. But it wasn’t until they got there that they introduced themselves to each other.
Officer Hoffmeister introduced himself and the woman introduced herself as Elizabeth Goode.
“Elizabeth Goode. I’ll never forget you,” Officer Hoffmeister replied.
It was a ride that Officer Hoffmeister will not forget easily.
“She reminded me of home and my grandmother that I lost a few years back,” Officer Hofmeister shared. “She’s very sweet, she’s very intelligent and extremely funny so we get along very well and my grandmother was the same way.”
Officer Hoffmeister accompanied Ms. Goode inside the salon and gave her his cellphone number. He told her to call anytime she needed a ride.
He couldn’t stay long but he arranged for another officer to take Ms. Goode home. But luckily for Ms. Goode, another customer offered to take her home instead.
While this may be such an extraordinary gesture for us, Officer Hoffmeister said this is something they do all the time, help people.
“Our department stops to check on people all the time. This is not something above and beyond I feel like. It’s kind of gotten a lot of attention but this is a very normal occurrence for our city,” Officer Hoffmeister explained.
He also said that he and Ms. Goode have been speaking almost every day since they met on this busy highway.
Officer Hoffmeister had no idea another person recorded their interaction but he was glad someone did. At least through the video, he was able to share a joyous message.
He hopes this video will encourage everyone who watches to regularly perform acts of kindness to everyone they meet.
Watch this wonderful act of kindness between a young police officer and an elderly woman in the video below.
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