A man was sound asleep when someone suddenly knocked at his front door. He rolled over, looked at the clock, and saw that it was 3:30 in the morning. “I’m not getting out of bed at this time,” he thought, pulling the covers over himself. But a few seconds later, another knock came—this time much louder.

“Aren’t you going to answer that?” his wife asked. Reluctantly, the man dragged himself downstairs and opened the front door. Standing outside in the darkness was a stranger who looked as though he’d had far too much to drink. “Sorry to bother you,” the stranger said, “but could you give me a push?”

The homeowner stared at him in disbelief. “At three-thirty in the morning? Absolutely not!” he snapped before closing the door and returning upstairs. When he told his wife what had happened, she reminded him of the night their own car had broken down in terrible weather and a stranger had stopped to help them. “You should go help him,” she said.

Feeling guilty, the man got dressed, walked outside, and peered into the darkness. He couldn’t see the stranger anywhere, so he shouted, “Hey! Are you still out here? Do you still need a push?” A voice immediately answered from somewhere in the yard, “Yes, please!”

The man called back, “Where are you?” After a brief silence, the stranger shouted, “Over here—on the swing!” The exhausted homeowner stood frozen for a moment before realizing he’d gotten out of bed at 3:30 in the morning to push a drunk stranger on a backyard swing.