Depending on the kindness of strangers isn't what it used to be. Dependency is not our thing. We pride ourselves on being self-sufficient and empowered. We carry smart phones and mini-laptops so we don't have to ask directions or feel like we are uninformed. We can Google or Wiki- whatever we need. We are kidding ourselves. We are now dependant on nameless folks (AKA strangers) creating apps for our phones or tablets. We are tied to our electronics and they are tied to the people working behind the curtain.
I had an experience today that took me back. My car battery died yesterday but I had places to be and a dinner engagement. Luckily, I had a second car and was able to let my disabled vehicle sit in the garage until I could deal with it later. This morning I hopped on the cell phone and called for roadside assistance to get my car started. The guy was there in twenty minutes and got my car started. I was supposed to drive it for a while to charge the battery so I set off on a tour of the area and drove for about twenty minutes before I noticed that I was almost out of gas. I figured my battery was charged enough and headed for a gas station. I stopped at an "express" gas station to fill up. It was one of those places with an attendant in a little glass house. Most people use plastic and never go talk to the attendant. Well, of course, my car would not start when I was ready to leave. Of course, I don't have jumper cables. I explained my situation to the attendant and he went into a small storage closet to see if there were any cables. Of course, he didn't have any.
I live in the desert southwest and our weather can change pretty fast. Today it was warm and windy. By the time I was getting my gas we were in a stiff sustained wind of 35 mph and gusting to 45. Tumbleweeds were flying by and it was turning into a dust storm.
Out of the blue, the gas attendant says "Here, take my car and go to WalMart and buy jumper cables". He hands me his car keys and points me toward his car. I was stunned. I couldn't believe that a total stranger would just hand me his car keys and trust me to go to WalMart and come back in his car....in a dust storm. I hesitated but took his keys and drove off to the local WalMart. I could have driven to Denver or Chicago. The store wasn't too far away and I managed to get back in under a half hour.
The attendant was busy when I got back and I handed his keys in through his window. He told me he was about to get off work as soon as his replacement arrived and he'd help me get the car started. As I was getting the jumper cables out of the package an elderly Indian lady driving a pick-up with grand kids in the cab drove up and offered to give me a jump from her truck. I gladly took her up on her offer and got the car started once again. I was busy thanking people right and left and they seemed like this was an everyday occurrence...all in a day's work. I was back at the local WalMart getting a new battery in about ten minutes.
The kindness of strangers is still alive and well in spite of our lack of attention and our false sense of empowerment and self-sufficiency. I'm still amazed that someone would hand over the car keys to a stranger and trust them to come back. I guess now it's my turn to help someone out.
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