Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Kindness of a Stranger

Earl Brandon is a good samaritan. On Sunday, my daughter and a girlfriend were driving back to college in Kentucky from Clemson University and got a flat on Interstate 40 near the Smoky Mountains. Maddie called just after noon and asked what she should do. "Where are you?" I asked. "On the side of the road," she answered. That's my girl. "Think you can change the flat?" I wondered almost to myself, knowing the answer. "No," she said. "What do I do?"

At this point my training failure was apparent. Why I never showed her how to jack a car up and change a tire, I don't know and that will be remedied over the Thanksgiving break. "We should have bought AAA," my wife commented, adding to the sense of helplessness as my daughter spoke to me on the side of the road six hours away. "We finally established that she was 20 or so miles west of Asheville, North Carolina and I set about looking for a garage to assist her. "You two don't split up," I directed Maddie and her friend before we hung up. I'll call you back in a few minutes.

Read the rest of the Cultural Offering post. You'll feel better.

P.S. And while on the subject, a related song from Iris DeMent.

2 comments:

CincyCat said...

One thing I will be forever grateful for is the day my Dad took me outside the day before I left for college and made me figure out how to change a tire on a car. :)

My husband and I, when we were first married, changed the heater core in our Chevy Celebrity in 12-degree weather because it was our only means of transportation to work and college. The part was $16, but the labor would have been $350 (more than our monthly rent, which we couldn't afford).

Good memories... :)

Michael Wade said...

CincyCat,

Great memories. Thanks for passing them on.

Michael