Driving Home The Kindness, Part 5

(I am driving from my mom’s house up to my dad’s. This trip is a long one, but I’ve been doing it for years, so I often go pretty late with no worries. This trip, however, I get about halfway to my dad’s only to have the engine light come on. It is my first real difficulty like that, and it is extremely late. Very upset, I get to a gas station, call my parents and AAA, and panic.)

Tow Truck Driver: “We’re going to need to take this to a shop. Where do you want to go?”

Me: *in tears* “I, I don’t know anywhere nearby, and I don’t, I don’t know w-what to do.”

Tow Truck Driver: “Well, how far away is home for you?”

Me: “A-about a hundred miles.”

Tow Truck Driver: “Not a problem! We can do that. You’re covered for exactly that amount.”

Me: “Oh, my God, really? Are you sure? It’s okay?”

Tow Truck Driver: *very kindly* “Don’t worry. I’ll get you home safe.”

(Extremely grateful and overwhelmed, I started crying. The driver put me in his cab to wait for him to hitch my car up. As I’m waiting, I notice one of the other people in the gas station come over to the driver and start talking to him. Eventually, the driver gets into the cab, and turns to me.)

Tow Truck Driver: “You see that guy? He saw you crying and wanted to know if you were okay. I gave him the general situation, and he looked at me and said, ‘Well in that case, I’d like to pay for her tow.’ I told him you were already covered, and he said to get you home safe then.”

(I started crying again, and rolled down the window to sob gratefully. I probably looked and sounded like a hot mess, but in the middle of what felt like a disaster, the total kindness of two strangers kept me safe. My dad tipped the driver when he dropped me off, and the driver said he had kids of his own, and he wouldn’t want them stranded either.)