Police Officer Helps Homeless Man Shave For McDonald's Job Interview

A Florida police officer has rightly received plaudits for helping a homeless guy to have a shave ahead of a job interview.

Tony Carlson, who works for the City of Tallahassee Police Department, spotted the man having a bit of a struggle with his razor in a petrol station on Sunday.

The homeless man, called Phil, said that he had bought the razor because someone from McDonald's had said to him that if he showed up to the restaurant on Monday with his face cleanly shaven, he could have a job.

So, Carlson gave him a hand and helped him to shave off his beard.

This random act of kindness has gone viral since it happened, but despite all of the recognition and good will that he is getting, Carlson reckons that he was just doing what most other people would have done in the same situation.

He says that members of the United States various law enforcement agencies do stuff like this all the time, it's just that on this occasion it was captured on camera for the world to see.

He explained: "It happens all the time, it just so happens this time somebody caught it on film.

"Officers all over the place... our department, the Sheriff's department, other cities... they're always doing things like this that don't get the attention that this just happened to get,

"It shows the reality of what we actually do."

In a news conference that was uploaded to Facebook by the Tallahassee police department, Carlson told the story.

He said: "I saw [a man], who turned out to be Phil, out front trying to shave, having some trouble with his razor,

"As I got out of my car, he asked me if I knew anything about fixing a razor, because it was broken, and if I could look at it. For whatever reason, instead of just getting in my car and leaving, I went over there, and I looked at it, and it was missing a screw."

Obviously, Carlson wasn't carrying around a screw with him to fix the thing, but he did manage to tighten the screws on Phil's second-hand razor enough for him to get a shave out of it.

Then, a second problem arose. He didn't have a mirror.

Not to worry, Carlson simply grabbed the razor and shaved his face himself. What a guy.

Carlson's extra effort sums up his idea of police work, basically. He helped a guy out because he saw it as part of his duties as a policeman.

He continued: "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 gonna last.

"There's a time and place to arrest people and take them to jail, of course, but if you can help and fix the situation to [help] it get better, the chances are you're not gonna have to come back out there, later."

It's not known whether Phil got his job or not, what we do know is that we could do with a couple more people, not just policemen, like Officer Tony Carlson.