Brighten Your Day

Officer Continues To Help Homeless Man Land A Job

July 27, 2018

On Monday, Officer Tony Carlson of the Tallahassee Police Department was caught on camera shaving a homeless man's face outside of a gas station to help him prepare for a job interview.

In a Facebook post Officer Carlson said the man, who he named as Phil, had told him he had been promised a job at the McDonald's next door if he turned up for work clean shaven.

Officer Carlson helped him shave and went on with his day. Little did he know, a bystander filmed the heartwarming moment and sent it to the Tallahassee Police Department.

The post has been shared more than 1,000 times on Facebook.

Since people have been curious whether Phil landed the job or not, the department has posted two updates on Phil's job situation.

"This evening I was going to dinner with the family and my kids pointed out Phil (and his friend Lonnie) sitting under the flyover on Thomasville Rd," Officer Carlson said. "After dinner we decided to pick up a few cheeseburgers from McDonald's and stop by to talk with Phil. Phil was surprised and excited to see me. He pulled out the Tallahassee Democrat front page, that had me and him on it, and showed it to me.

He then told me he had talked to the manager at McDonald's and he was set to get a job but he still needed to get his ID/SS card. I then told Phil I had good news about that and told him I had been contacted by Senator Marco Rubio's office here in town. They stated they had also seen the story and wanted to help Phil get his ID and Social Security card."

Officer Carlson and Phil / Tallahassee Police Department

On Thursday, Officer Carlson drove Phil to Senator Rubio's office to fill out the necessary paperwork.

When asked if he had any news, Phil simply responded, "Ya'll have a blessed day."

Despite the praise Officer Carlson has received, he is being humble about the whole incident.

"I didn't do anything spectacular," he said. "It happens all the time. It just so happened that this time somebody caught it on film. Officers all over the place in other cities are always doing things like this that don't get the attention."