![\"A](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.spokeo.com\/compass\/image\/KyleSpokeo.jpg?resize=200%2C300&ssl=1\")
(A true story in the words of our engineer with full names redacted for privacy. Take it away, Kyle!)<\/p>\n(A true story in the words of our engineer with full names redacted for privacy. Take it away, Kyle!)<\/p>\n
Last night I was doing some coding at a Starbucks. It’s the one behind Target on Colorado Boulevard. A lot of homeless folk hang out at this location. Like many people, they enjoy charging their phones while using the WiFi.<\/p>\n
A homeless man and his girlfriend sat at the table next to mine. The man pointed at my Macbook Pro and asked his girlfriend: “How much you think that machine costs? Three hundred?”<\/p>\n
Oh man, a lot more than that<\/em>, I thought. I felt their curious gaze on my screen as I scrolled through code on my terminal. Eventually the man tapped me on the shoulder.<\/p>\n “Hey, what’s that machine called?” he asked.<\/p>\n “Oh, it’s a laptop,” I replied.<\/p>\n “How much was it? Three hundred?”<\/p>\n “Oh man, I don’t remember. It’s been a while!”<\/p>\n The next question surprised me.<\/p>\n I\u2019m a software engineer at a tech company called Spokeo. Spokeo\u2019s mission is to help people search for and connect with others. As an employee, I have a company search account. So, I found it intriguing that out of all the people he could have asked, he asked me.<\/p>\n \u201cWho\u2019re you looking for?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCan you find Deborah B? She\u2019s from Gardena.\u201d<\/p>\n I pulled up Deborah B. from Gardena, California. Spokeo lists possible relatives to help customers narrow down their search.<\/p>\n \u201cIs she related to Frederick or Benjamin?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s me! I\u2019m Benjamin!\u201d<\/p>\n I opened Deborah\u2019s report, wrote down all six of the phone numbers associated with her name on a Starbucks napkin, and gave them to Benjamin.<\/p>\n \u201cHow am I supposed to contact her?\u201d he asked. \u201cI don\u2019t have no phone or money to call each of these numbers. Can I borrow your phone?\u201d<\/p>\n My heart melted and I gave him my phone. Unfortunately, he had no idea how a smart phone worked. So, I dialed the first number in myself. No answer. I called the second number, but still no answer. Each time I dialed in a new number, Benjamin\u2019s face looked a little less hopeful. I dialed the last number and someone picked up.<\/p>\n \u201cHey, is this Deborah?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes. Who\u2019s calling?\u201d<\/p>\n I passed the phone to Benjamin. During the conversation, his happiness had been irrepressible. He explained that he was still alive, that he had \u201ca girl,\u201d and that he was recently robbed of all his things. He didn\u2019t even have a post office box to have mail sent to him.<\/p>\n \u201cThey wanted me to pay thirty-five dollars to look up your name, and this white boy helped me find ya\u2019ll for free! He has our whole family.\u201d He shot a look at me. \u201cWhat\u2019s your name, son?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cKyle.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cKyle helped me find you guys. Here, talk to him.\u201d<\/p>\n After Deborah and I chatted a moment, she gave me the phone numbers of Benjamin\u2019s brothers and friends, most of whom were in Colorado.<\/p>\n Benjamin thanked me. Then, with a tremor in his voice, he made one more request.<\/p>\n We called two more relatives. Benjamin explained to both that he didn\u2019t wish to see them in person because he didn\u2019t want them to see him \u201clike this.\u201d He did, however, want to keep communicating. He mentioned several times how he felt like his \u201ctime is coming,\u201d but he wanted his family to know he was drug-free, having only a drink now and then.<\/p>\n He also alluded to being ill several times, which added some urgency to the conversations.<\/p>\n I chatted with John, one of Benjamin\u2019s brothers, and he told me it had been a while since he\u2019d seen Benjamin. Whenever he or someone from the family had come to Los Angeles to look for him in the past, they’d never known where to begin. I told John where I found Benjamin and gave him my phone number, offering to meet up when he returns to Los Angeles.<\/p>\n Closing time crept up on us. Good timing, too \u2014 my phone battery charge was almost 0%. I wrote all the phone numbers, including mine, on two pieces of paper so that Benjamin had copies in case he ever lost one of them.<\/p>\n It had only been a couple of hours, but I felt connected to Benjamin and his family. Witnessing pure joy is not something I see enough. We said goodbye, and Benjamin gave me a big hug.<\/p>\n \u201cI needed this,\u201d he told his girlfriend as I walked away.<\/p>\n Later that night, I received a text from John:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThank you Kyle for helping My brother Ben get in touch with family. We have never understood Benjamins\u2019 choices. He has always been a beautiful person inside\u2026he is lovable and we love him.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (A true story in the words of our engineer with full names redacted for privacy. Take it away, Kyle!) Last night I was doing some coding at a Starbucks. It’s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":15360,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[626],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-businesses"],"yoast_head":"\n“Can it help me find someone?”<\/h2>\n
“Hello?”<\/h2>\n
“Can we call some more people?”<\/h2>\n
Search Angels Among Us<\/h2>\n
\n\n