A good Samaritan
New York Good Cop Lauded For Act Of Kindness
The image of Officer Larry DePrimo buying boots for a barefooted homeless man earns wide praise for his random act of kindness.
It was meant to be a private gesture, but the New York policeman who bought a homeless man a $100 (£62) pair of boots has won international and official praise.
The 25-year-old explained that he had been inspired by his grandfather to buy the anonymous barefoot man a pair of shoes, after encountering him during his beat near Times Square on a cold evening in early November.
"He told me when I was much younger, 'If you are going to do something, do it 100%. And do it, or don't do it at all,'" Officer DePrimo said.
"I didn't really think anything of it at the time," he added. "What sticks out in my mind is he was such a kind gentleman that I had to help him. I wanted to."
Larry DePrimo's family home in Suffolk County, where the officer lives in a basement apartment, was also besieged by satellite trucks and journalists.
And both he and the tourist who secretly snapped the photo - a civilian police worker from Arizona - were doing the rounds of US breakfast TV shows on Friday.
Jennifer Foster posted the image to the NYPD's Facebook Page and kicked off the internet phenomenon which has seen millions viewing the story and thousands of 'likes' and positive comments.
But amid all the praise, there has been inevitable cynicism and some concern for the unidentified man at the centre of the modern-day fairytale of New York.
"I walked by this man in Union Square Wednesday, November 21," wrote Melissa Gallaher-Smith. "And he was again barefoot. I remember very clearly because his pants were also hiked up and his feet were very large."
Several others reported seeing the same man - always without shoes. One told how she had bought a pair for him on a previous occasion, leading to speculation among others that he may be working some kind of scam.
Homeless charities also waded in, praising Officer DePrimo's actions but pointing out it is not in line with the NYPD's usual treatment of vagrants.
Patrick Markee, from the Coalition for the Homeless told the LA Times that successive New York mayors had sought to clean the city's streets of rough sleepers.
"It was a really moving photo and a moving story," he said, "and a stark contrast to a mayor who has largely ignored the homeless crisis that has spiralled out of control on his watch."
Whatever the truth of the situation, others argue, it does not detract from the young officer's caring and inspirational gesture.
Vocabulary:
to laud -
barefooted /barefoot (adj) -
homeless (adj) -
praise (v/n) -
a throng of -
to award -
cufflinks -
(a policeman's) beat -
to stick out in your mind -
a basement apartment -
to besiege -
a truck -
to snap a photo -
to do the rounds -
to kick off -
amid (prep) -
a fairytale -
to walk by -
pants -
hiked up -
a scam -
a charity -
to wade in -
to point out -
a vagrant -
a mayor -
to seek (sought, sought) -
a rough sleeper -
moving (adj) -
a stark contrast -
to spiral out of control -
on sb's watch -
Source: You Tube (AssociatedPress) Key Words: Larry dePrimo cop
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Comments
I know you like this kind of news. I don´t know why the media don´t talk about these good deeds. It seems that people prefer tragedies and reality show. Is it possible that society thinks that this act of kindness is a fairytale? If you show bad deeds you are teaching bad behaviour and, for this reason, you should show good deeds.
It´s beautiful that a cop, 25-year-old, bought a pair of boots to a homeless. He is very young. It´s good that Mr. Kelly, Commisioner, gave to Mr. Deprimo pair of cufflinks as award. I like that the media talk about this act of kindness. Mostly, I want to highlight that his grandfather was who taught this good behaviour. Everybody learns in the good and in the bad. It´s necessary to stick out in mind of children that it´s better to do the good than the bad.
I would like that Mr. Trump could read this news and he had at heard different people who weren´t rich like him.
See you.
I am not sure if you were able to read the full original text. I've updated the page.
We need more of these feel-good stories in our lives. We need to be encouraged to follow this officer's example and be kind to others. I wish such acts of kindness were the norm.
Whenever there is a story like this in the news, there is also a post-script. It is not always as it seems.
I know you like this kind of news. I don´t know why the media doesn´t talk about these good deeds. It seems that people prefer tragedies and reality shows. Is it possible that society thinks that this act of kindness is a fairytale? If you show bad deeds you are teaching bad behaviour and, for this reason, you should show good deeds.
It´s beautiful that a 25-year-old cop bought a pair of boots for a homeless man. He is very young. It´s good that Mr. Kelly's Commisioner, gave Mr. Deprimo a pair of cufflinks as a reward. I like that the media talks about this act of kindness. Mostly, I want to highlight that his grandfather was the one who taught him this good behaviour. Everybody learns about good and bad. It´s necessary to instill in children that it´s better to do good than bad.
I wish that Mr. Trump could read this news and he was concerned about people who weren´t rich like him.
PS Don't forget Twitter and Quizlet.