On the kindness of a stranger

kw: local events, observations, kindness

Last evening we stopped at a market on the way home from visiting friends. In the parking lot we noticed we had a flat tire. Inside the trunk I found the spare was also flat (it is ten years old). Hoping to avoid calling AAA, I crossed the street to a nearby Sears, where I asked the service writer if anyone could come back with me to bring in the flat tire for repair or replacement. He could not interrupt anyone's work to do so; instead he lent me their battery-powered inflator. This was an act of significant trust.

I returned to the car to find that the flat tire would not hold air, but the spare would. However, I could not find the jack handle or lug wrench (I'd never looked for them). So I called AAA and took the inflator back to the man at Sears, with my thanks.

The AAA guy got me back on the road on a re-inflated spare, so I could go the next day (today) to get the punctured tire repaired. I was grateful to him, but really, he was doing what he was paid to do. I am even more grateful to the service writer for extending such trust to me just an hour short of closing time. Had I not returned the inflator, he could have been in trouble.