On my way home from work tonight, my car made this horrible noise and then there was the sound of rushing air. My first thought was 'Great; another flat', but having had a blow-out (or two), the ease of steering told me that wasn't the issue. A quick look at my gauges said it wasn't engine-related either.
Fortunately, I was close to the Strawberry Plains exit and could make a hasty escape off the interstate. I pulled into a BP and did a quick check. Tires looked okay. Car seemed fine. But in the front, there was a piece of plastic-some sort of cover-hanging down. While I deemed it nonessential to operating the car, I knew it wasn't wise to get back on the interstate.
Enter Weldon. He pulled up beside me. "You got some trouble?"
"Yeah," I said. "This thing," I pointed at the cover.
"Let me see if I can help". He crawled underneath the car as best he could. Long story, short: Weldon was able to rig the cover back into place, at least until I can get it to a proper service station.
What's remarkable about this story as that, with more than an hour's commute ahead of him, Weldon was doing this in the pouring rain and driving wind for someone he did not know. And he made me get back in the car so I wouldn't get wet.
"I don't know how I could re-pay you," I said, doing my best Blanche Du Bois impression.
"PAY me?" Weldon said. "You don't need to pay me. You just need to do two things: you need to slow down and next time you see somebody who needs help and you can help 'em, help 'em."
And with that, he patted me on my soggy shoulder with his water-logged hand and got back in his car.
I get the feeling that Weldon does this kind of thing a lot. I get the feeling that we all should.
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