The Traveler
© Tom Ebacher

Glen Taylor was on a holiday from his home in Darwin, Australia.  He is a landscape designer in Darwin and 37 years old. A handsome husky man with a tanned complexion and dark hair.   He had bought a Ameri Pass from Greyhound Bus lines and was touring the country.  He entered this country in New York and was traveling to San Francisco. Traveling in that direction he will  go around the world.  High hopes for a wonderful time touring America.

Glen preferred to spend nights in a hotel rather than sleep on the bus. On Friday, he was walking from the bus station to a hotel in Chicago when he was stopped at gun point.  He had, of course, to give up his wallet with all his money.    He also had to give up his bag which contained his clothes, sleeping bag and tent.  It also contained his passport and his bus pass.  After taking his possessions except the clothes he was wearing they knocked him down and kicked him until they were done.  Glen reported the incident to the police.

I met Glen yesterday.   He was hitchhiking on the ramp on I-94 at Sauk Center Minnesota.  He seemed ill dressed for the snowing weather we were having that day.  As I sometimes do I stopped to pick him up.   As he entered my car he shook from the cold.  He thanked me as he entered.   I turned up the heat to warm him.

Asking where he was going, he said to Bozeman Montana.  He has a friend there. I noted that he had an accent and he said he was from Australia. As we talked he told me his story.

He had no money and no food.  He had been given a few articles of clothes from a truck driver who had given him a ride earlier.  His finger was swollen and was very painful to move.

I took Glen to our hospital where he was treated for free.  His finger had been smashed into at least 8 pieces by a kick intended for his head. He has a splint on it now.  The doctor says it will take 2 months to heal.   Glen spent the night in my home with my family.  A few hot meals with a warm bed.    In the morning I made sure he had clothes to suit the weather, bought him a bus ticket to Bozeman and gave him a little money to spend for his needs on the way.  In Bozeman he will meet his only friend in the United States.  He will have a check waiting for him so he can again rely on his own resources.

Imagine what his trip could have been. A trip of over a thousand miles. No money, no friends,  no food.   His finger smashed and in pain.  The cold.  Being kicked out of truck stops while trying to find a ride. Sent from roadside stores while trying to keep warm. The cold.

I gave a ride to my uncle yesterday.  He sat in the same seat that Glen had sat in shivering from the cold.  Sitting there he told me that it was good that atheists were not allowed to be scout masters because they have no morals.