I think about that Tuesday afternoon often. How quickly I’d assumed the worst. How wrong I’d been.
I think about the man with the camera, clean-cut, normal-looking, who was the real monster.
And I think about how many times in my life I’d made that same mistake.
The girl who’d filmed everything did post the video. It went viral. Millions of views. The title she gave it: “Bikers Save Us From Kidnapper – Don’t Judge Books By Their Covers.”
But the best comment, the one that got pinned to the top, was from Thomas:
“We didn’t do anything special. We just did what was right. The real tragedy is that doing what’s right is considered special. Look out for each other. Protect the vulnerable. That’s not heroic. That’s human.”
Six months later, I retired from security work and joined the Guardians MC as an associate member. I don’t ride—bad knees—but I help with their charity work.
Last week, we did a school visit to talk to kids about safety. Thomas was speaking when a little girl raised her hand.
“Are you bad guys? My mom says bikers are bad guys.”
Thomas knelt down to her level. “What do you think? Do we seem like bad guys to you?”
“That’s because that’s what we are. Grandpas who ride motorcycles and try to help people.”
“Oh,” she said. “My mom is wrong then.”
“Your mom is just being careful. That’s good. But sometimes, being too careful means we miss out on meeting good people who look different than us.”
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