Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Faith in my fellow man

I can't speak for all of you, but I'd like to think that like me you do what you can when you can if someone has a need. I often fix people's computers and ask for nothing in return, even if the job takes a week of my free time. I give a bit to charity when I can. Sometimes though you find yourself wondering how many good people are out there and the world seems like a cold, impersonal place.

I went to leave work yesterday and noticed my right rear tire was very close to being flat. I had an oil change at one of these full service places a couple of weeks ago and they told me the pressure was low in that tire but did not see anything wrong.

In cases like this a can of 'Fix a Flat' has often sealed a slow leak and left nothing else required. As there is an auto parts store nearby I decided to slowly drive there. I procured the 'Fix a Flat', and one of the customers remarked along the lines of I was in the nick of time based on the current deflation. I headed out and so did this patron with his purchases. We talked and he asked if there was a nail or something in the tire and told him about the conversation I had with the oil change folks. He dropped what he was doing (I was dressed in work clothes, he in blue jeans) and crawled under the car. He found a large screw stuck in the tire and then offered, if I wanted to buy the tire patching kit, to crawl under the car and take care of it. As I was in work clothes I agreed, the tire was patched (plus he showed me how to do it; I'd never patched anything other than the tire on my ten speed when I was a kid!) As he knew the owner of the auto parts store, he asked him to fill up a portable canister of compressed air so we could re-inflate the tire.

I thanked him and the owner for their help and offered this young man some money which he promptly refused. I let him know again how much I appreciated it, and how pleased he was that, like myself I would not take money for helping someone out.

Thinking of this last night and today it just makes me feel good inside to find people of strong moral character. Just the type of thing to put a spring in one's step.

I put the tire patching kit in the trunk of my care; perhaps one day I can fix a flat for someone else!!

1 comment:

Charlie said...

Sadly it seems more times than not people would rather have caused your flat than fixed it.

There are some great people out there, but for each and everyone, there seem to be a million average people and more than a handful of horribly evil and terrible people.