Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Once in a while, I witness something, do something or hear something that makes me stop and think.
On Nov. 10, I did something which made me do just that. I helped out a troubled motorist. And I want to tell you the story and explain why it made me stop and think. But please don't think I'm trying to toot my own horn. I don't like people who do that and try not to boost my own ego. However, to get to my point, I have to tell the story.
After leaving a meeting in Syracuse Tuesday, I stopped at a gas station in Pierceton on my way home. I went in, paid for my gas and headed out the door. As I was walking out, I noticed a young man, about my age, having trouble with his truck. He couldn't get it started.
My first reaction was to walk on, thinking he could handle the problem himself. Halfway to my car, I stopped. I had to ask myself why I didn't offer some kind of assistance.
Was I in a rush? No, that wasn't it. Could he be a serial killer? That's always possible, but I doubted it and it was a well-lighted area with many other people around. No one else was offering to help him with his truck troubles, so why should I?
I turned around and approached him.
"Need some help?" I offered.
He didn't know what was wrong with it. He had been driving it for three hours and it just stalled on him in Pierceton. He was headed for Michigan City.
"Can I offer you a boost?" I asked.
He said he appreciated it and I drove my car over to his truck. The truck, a large moving truck, had two batteries. We tried the first battery; it still didn't start. We decided to try boosting the other battery, but his jumper cables wouldn't reach. I offered to use mine because they were newer and longer. They reached.
After a few minutes of jumping his truck, it started for him.
We took off the cables and talked for a little. He said he was helping a friend move and it had been a long drive and a long drive to go. He thanked me and I told him it wasn't a problem, I've been in car trouble before. I recommended that he not stop and he said if he did, he wasn't going to turn the truck off.
I got in my car and drove on home. In my rear-view window, I watched as he pulled out of the gas station.
I was glad I could help him. I know what it's like when your car goes psycho on you. You don't always know what to do and sometimes people don't always help out.
And that brings me to my point.
Has society become so scary and violent that if a motorist is stranded, we won't stop? Or are we such in a rush to go here and go there that we can't stop for a few minutes and give someone a boost or help change their tire?
I understand where the fear comes from. Many people are killed innocently by strangers. And I understand the rush we all feel. There have been days when I've gone from one thing to another with no break in between.
But should we become so self-centered that we can't help another person out or so afraid of someone because we don't know them, then we lose a part of our humanity. The human connection God intended is lost little by little the less we help our neighbors, know them or not.
The golden rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," applies to each and every one of us.
And I am guilty of the same crime. I've driven to Indianapolis on a few occasions and noticed stranded drivers and kept on driving. I thought, well, they seem to be working on it, so I'm sure they don't need help. Or, it's too dark for me to help them out, they could be psychos.
I am guilty. I will accept my punishment of guilt for not offering some kind of assistance.
Sometimes all a person may want is a boost, to be dropped off at the nearest pay phone or helped to change a tire. Can't we take the time to do that?
I hope that I've learned a valuable lesson from Tuesday. I hope that I won't be scared or"too busy to offer my assistance to someone who obviously needs it. Only time will tell.
And I hope that guy I assisted Tuesday, who was about my age, arrived home safely. I'm sure he has a family who was glad to see him arrive home safely.
