We can't be too busy to help

Many of you have seen the Walking Man.

I stopped for him Friday. I was the only one.

The Walking Man appears to be in his late 40s or early 50s. He’s tall and trim. He shaves his head and has a short beard. He wears black shorts and no shirt. He goes barefoot, too. He walks everywhere and makes good time wherever he’s going.

I was driving north on Government Way mid-morning in heavy traffic to an appointment when I saw the Walking Man sprawled out on the sidewalk across the street from the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office Public Safety Building.

My eyesight is not as good as it used to be, so I didn’t recognize him at first. I knew a person was lying unconscious on the ground. It’s not normal for someone to be taking a nap on the sidewalk at 10 in the morning. I called 911 and turned around to go check on him. As I approached him, I noticed his black shoes were next to his feet and his shirt was a black trash sack.

I worried he’d been hit by a car — as the traffic whizzed by us. I didn’t see any injuries and he looked peaceful, but I couldn’t tell if he was breathing. Nobody else stopped.

As I leaned in closer, he jolted upright and I jumped back.

I asked him if he was OK. He mumbled an apology and said he wasn’t trying to cause any trouble.

I told him I wanted to make sure he was OK and asked if he needed help. He didn’t answer me. Clearly he needed help as I watched him stagger down the sidewalk away from me.

Concerned that emergency responders hadn’t arrived and he looked like he could fall into traffic, I rushed across the street to the Sheriff’s Office and explained the situation to a greeter in the lobby.

“I am sorry to say, that’s really not in our jurisdiction,” he said.

I voiced my concerns again — saying this man was going to get killed and somebody needed to help him. A young man sitting in the lobby chimed in, “That guy has been walking around town barefoot for years.” Then I remembered the Walking Man I had seen last summer in downtown Coeur d’Alene without shoes or a shirt.

Finally, I was told by the sheriff’s office greeter, “We’ll take care of it.”

So I left and drove along Government Way looking for the Walking Man to make sure he was OK. I found him on Dalton Avenue walking down the sidewalk. Then I saw a Coeur d’Alene Police officer drive right past him. The Walking Man saw the cop and did an about face. The cop kept on driving.

I caught up with the officer at the light and signaled him. We chatted and his reaction was great, but also troubling. “We’re very familiar with him. I will circle back and check it out,” the officer said.

Now, I don’t know the Walking Man’s story or what people have done to try to help him. Maybe there’s nothing that can be done for this person who walks our streets.

The most concerning thing to me is that dozens of cars sped past him on the ground without stopping. As I drove to my meeting, I wondered why no one else had stopped. Are we too busy? Too afraid? Or simply oblivious to our fellow man?

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Marc Stewart is a Coeur d’Alene resident who writes for The Press.