A couple of days ago, I wrote about a 10-year-old boy who was hanging around the farm, until he finally said he wanted to borrow my Wi-Fi so he could load music onto his Ipod. It has been a tough winter and he never wore a coat or cap or even good shoes. He has been coming by every day and he stands behind that tree on the right and downloads music. He was relieved to hear that it wasn’t stealing exactly to borrow a neighbor’s Wi-Fi. It think it took some courage for him to talk to me at all, and he was clearly afraid I would say no.

I got a lot of e-mail about this boy, much of it from good and thoughtful people who were worried about him. The image of a 10-year-old kid, out in the cold without proper gear alarmed some people. One woman wrote and said he didn’t need a Wi-Fit, he needed coat.  People wrote to ask if they could help him in some way.

I thought about this a lot. I think not. I asked a neighbor about him, and she said he was much loved and well-cared for by his mother, even though she has struggled through the winter and the recession, as she has two kids and does not live with her husband. Did she need help?, I asked and my neighbor was surprised. No, not really, she said, not more than half the people on the road. She needed a good job, health care and a new roof. Could I help with that? Not that she would take it, she added.

I think this may be one of those country-city things. Up here, lots of people walk around with coats or hats. That would not be something that would trigger an alarm. Winter is part of life, and they don’t surrender to it. And almost everybody could use some help, an idea that would probably appall them. But this boy is happy and, in many ways, lucky.  He looks fit and happy. He’s got an Ipod and free Wi-Fi for it. As my neighbor said, “he’s got a mother who cares where he is.”

He’s welcome to my Wi-Fi. But I’ll stay out of his life. This is where we live.