The Better Life: Roadside Assistance

I don't know much about cars. When something is going wrong with a car, that I happen to be in the same vicinity of, I will look under the hood, nod my head, agree with the closest male (who is also looking under the hood) and say something in agreement, "Yep, I agree. Definitely the alternator." The only time I am of any help to a stranded motorist is in the unfortunate situation that their battery is dead and they need a jump. In most situations I really don't feel like helping but feel obligated because, of course, no one else ever seems to have jumper cables in their car (I should really take those out). While I can change a tire, and once changed my own brakes (I made about 30 phone calls to my father-in-law that day), I use my expertise of having no expertise as an excuse to drive by people I see having car difficulty on the side of the road.

In all honesty, I don't want to be "that guy," the one that drives by a person in need. I don't want to have have my son or daughter sitting in the car with me while I blatantly ignore someone that I could help. I want to stop and offer to change a tire, give a ride, or jump a battery, with a smile on my face. I want to be better. Tuesday was a better day.

With the winter storm apocalypse covering most of the Eastern United States. Tuesday I found making a fifteen minutes to take my wife to work (half a mile away). After dropping her off at the entrance to the hospital I noticed two men standing outside of a Mazda CX-7 attempting to push it out of a parking space, while their friend manned the drivers seat. While it has already been established that I do not possess much knowledge about cars, I do posses a pair of Timberland boots, and the ability to push (an ability I have honed on many occasions after running out of gas, once while on a date) I quickly (but really it was slowly) found a place to park my car and offered my help. None of the men spoken English, they seemed to be of middle eastern descent, but I managed to give them enough guidance and muscle that they were quickly unstuck and on there way.

I got back in my car and started making my way back home when I came across another motorist in need of assistance. With stoic control, I edged my Mitsubishi Eclipse close to stranded Ford F-150 (no, the make and model irony was not lost on me). I put my car in park, turned on my hazard lights, got out, and told the man behind the driver's seat to ease on the gas and I would try to push him to a spot where he could get traction. Two other men soon showed up to help and after a few minutes the truck was free and I was on my way back to my house.

Over the past week, while taking up residence on Hoth, I have had the opportunity to push a few more cars (for those of you who do not get the Star Wars reference Hoth is a snow planet). It hasn't been a grand gesture of my abundant greatness, it has just been a nice thing to do, and I am better for it.



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