“Excuse me, ma’am, can you help me?”
I understand not everyone wants to stop and help a stranger. We live in a busy world and most people have a schedule to keep. I, myself, had brief thoughts of simply ignoring the women who called out to me and going about my business.
Allow me to set the scene.
It was a rainy Friday afternoon in spring a little more than two years ago, and I had just clocked out of work for the day. I don’t remember what I had going on that day, but I remember being tired and glad that I was done for the week. As I walked to the parking lot, this woman waved her arm in the air from across the street and asked if I could help her out.
I had no idea who this woman was. She was standing next to an old, beat-up Bronco with her hood pulled over her head to block out the rain. I was initially skeptical. I had no idea what she wanted.
My fears were assuaged when she asked, “My car won’t start, do you know how to jump start a car?”
OK, she wasn’t going to kidnap me and drive me to some remote location. One less thing to worry about.
I took a second to consider the request. I did know how to jump-start a car, but it was raining, and all I wanted to do was get home. However, my parents raised to be a kind Christian person, and I could almost hear their disappointment in me if I had lied.
I told her I would help her, and said I’d pull my car up next to hers.
Now across the street, I prepared myself to fix her problem. I was a little worried about the rain. The last time I had used jumper cables was a beautiful, summer day. I had no desire to electrocute myself. A quick call to my brother told me I should be fine as long as I do things correctly.
As I was getting the cables out of my trunk and preparing to help, the lady and I had a chance to chat. Apparently, I was not the first person she asked. The first person had simply said “no” and walked away. Others had driven right past her as if they couldn’t see her. Hearing this made me glad I hadn’t ignored her and made me question my faith in my fellow man.
I never caught her name, but I discovered she was in town for a funeral and had to drive home that evening. Home was somewhere in northwest Iowa. She also said she’s been having problems with the car but wasn’t able to get it looked at before leaving town. Having had car issues in the past, I sympathized with her plight.
I successfully attached the negative clamps first followed by the positive clamps (my grandfather would be proud of me). It only took a few seconds of juice, and her car roared to life. We let both vehicles idle for a moment and then I got out and detached the cables from our cars. She thanked me for helping her out, she shut the hood of her Bronco, got behind the wheel and headed down the road.
We can get so caught up in our own little world that we forget to look at the people around us. I’m just as guilty of it as the next person. It’s moments like these that force me to slow down and appreciate all that I have. Helping that woman took no longer than 20 minutes, but it caused me to step out of routine long enough to offer something that was within my power to give without need or want of compensation.
I require no praise for what I did. Thinking back on it now, the only thing I dwell on was the moment I considered not helping. How selfish would that have been? I only hope that if the situation were reversed, someone would help me in the same way.
Contact Pam Rodgers at
641-792-3121 ext. 6531
or prodgers@newtondailynews.com