It was the week before Christmas and I was off the the airport for the third time in the last week and a half. I was about to pick up my friend and trainer from my mission to Russia. Maksym was supposed to arrive at 11:00pm but when I arrived at the airport I saw that his flight was delayed until 12. Unsure what to do I just started pacing around and soon found a bench I could have to myself. After a few minutes I noticed a vending machine and decided I would satisfy my hunger by buying a snack. On my way back to my bench a young guy who appeared to have come from Africa stopped me and asked me what time it was. I told him, but then my curiosity got the best of me and I struck up a conversation with him. He told me his name was Ali and that he was from Nigeria. He came here to study economics at UVU with the hope that a sound understanding of economics would enable him to change his country for the better. It was the first time he had ever left home and he told me his mom was from worried. I could see why she might be worried; he was under-dressed for the cold weather and told me the light jacket he had on was given to him by woman that he met not long before he met me. I asked if he was waiting for his ride and he said that he needed to go to the international office at UVU; however, it closed at 5 and his flight didn't even arrive until 5:15. His plan was to spend the night at the airport and take a shuttle to UVU in the morning. I asked him how long he'd been traveling and he shared with me that it was his forth day. I felt so bad for him. It was his first time away from home, he was in a very foreign country, he hadn't been able to get decent sleep for four days, and on top of all that he was freezing!
I sat there and thought about what my parents would say if I brought him home. I wondered if I could call them. It was nearly midnight at this point. I knew my parents had a hard time sleeping at night and the last thing I wanted to do was to wake them. What was the right thing to do?
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