When you’re pulled over and the officer or trooper is writing out a ticket for speeding or some other violation, you usually just sit there behind the wheel, seething with resentment. Sure, you were going a little faster than you should’ve, but only because you were already running late. This is just going to make you even later.
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Now you not only have to deal with tardiness, but also pay off the ticket and sign up for — and pay for — traffic school so your insurance rates don’t shoot through the roof. By the time you add up all the costs, you could’ve probably just bought a plane ticket to get wherever you were going.
That’s why this story is so unusual, and spread like crazy. The driver showed warmth and compassion toward the trooper who pulled him over, and it changed both their lives.
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Mike Powers, who was 27 years old at the time, was on his way from Nashville to Mississippi for a business appointment. Trooper Jason Ales clocked him going 80 mph in a 65 mph zone and pulled him over.
That just made matters worse for Mike, who was already running late.
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2015 had seen a barrage of shooting fatalities on law-enforcement officers: By the end of the year, 986 officers would have been gunned down. So instead of seething behind the wheel at the injustice of his own circumstances, Mike instead turned his thoughts to the trooper and asked how he was doing.
“He said he was doing good and he said it was tough, but he was going to keep doing what he needed to do to help people.”
Then Trooper Ales handed over the ticket. But instead of just taking it and getting back on the road, Mike gave him something in return — a wooden saint bracelet, decorated with images of Jesus and angels, that he hoped would keep the trooper safe.
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“I was so touched … I almost teared up right there,”said Trooper Ales, who decided to hang the bracelet from the camera inside his squad car.
“My day was stressful because I was trying to get somewhere that I didn’t think that I could make it to,” Mike explained. “That was nothing compared with what he deals with on a daily basis, the stress of probably not knowing if he’s going to make it back home.â€
The trooper was so moved he voided the ticket, and an incredibly fast and tight friendship soon developed between the two men.
They eventually joined together to start a small charity, WeDo.Life, which raises funds and donates to the families of fallen officers, orphanages and others in need.
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Not only that, but Mike took the $200 it would’ve cost him to pay off the ticket and instead donated it to a children’s charity in Mississippi.
Watch the clip below to hear more about this incredible story, and remember to share if this story inspires you to show more compassion!
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