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Last month a video went viral of police officer Tony Carlson helping a homeless man shave for an interview at McDonald’s. When Phil March, a Tallahassee native, stopped and asked Officer Carlson to lend him a hand, the officer didn’t hesitate in demonstrating his barber skills to get March interview ready. Fixing the razor’s missing screw, Officer Carlson could have just handed it back to March to get on with the shaving himself. But Officer Carlson, who has been in service for over 20 years, went the extra mile and shaved off March’s beard himself.
Giving March his time and attention made the job candidate feel worthy when he must have been feeling so stressed. Yet for Officer Carlson “he was just doing his job” and would have loved to have done more. He told WCTV.TV that he’s delighted the video has garnered so much attention because “it shows the reality of what we actually do. I like to think of us more as peace officers first, law enforcement officers second. You go to a scene and you try to resolve it with a positive ending and something that’s going to last.”
The burning question is: did March get the job? Thankfully, the Tallahassee Police Department posted an update on their Facebook page of Officer Carlson paying a visit to one of McDonald’s latest employees, a fresh-faced March thriving in his new position and encouraging his other homeless friends to never give up. As the TPD stated in their post: “All it takes is one step forward.”
The heartwarming story shows how a simple act of kindness really can change someone’s life forever. But what makes it even better is that there were others involved in giving March this great opportunity. Raphael Vazquez, who owns the McDonalds, was willing to give someone in dire need a chance — in fact, Vazquez and his family have a habit of employing the homeless. And the office of Marco Rubio, the senator in Florida, also helped by securing him with the necessary identification to be employable.
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