Cold Wind, Colder Society

Cold wind, colder society

I was at the wheel while driving from California to Nevada on I-80 when I saw a car park on the shoulder, with a man waving his hands frantically. I pulled over, and the man - in his 70s or 80s - came running to our car. Shannon rolled down her window and the man said, "Thank you, thank you! My car quit, and I'm one of those whose don't carry a cell phone. Do you have a cell phone? I want to call my ex-wife to see if she could help."

"Yes, I do!" answered Shannon, and she handed the man her cell phone.

The man dug out a wad of $20 bills and began peeling one off to hand to us, when both of us said, "No no no no!"

It was chilly out and somewhat windy, so Shannon got out of the car to let the man sit in her seat to make his call. I did likewise to give him some privacy.

When he was done, he looked more relaxed, and again thanked us profusely.

"So, how long before we came around when your car quit?" I ask him.

"About half an hour."

"And you've been trying to flag people down?"

"Yes. And every car just zipped right on by."

The man hugged us before we went back to our car, shaking our heads.

- Anthony Marr


Doris Lin, Sandra Bullock, Lynda Hankins and 40 others like this.

DelilahMichele Leonard :)
10 hours ago · Unlike · 2

Barbara Napoles · 63 mutual friends
<3.. Good spirit.. Thank you for being that one kind person that still is looking out for others in the world. Many Blessings to you.
10 hours ago · Unlike · 3

Bernadette Barbour What a beautiful "Good Deed" Anthony.
10 hours ago · Unlike · 2

Fiona Mawson A conscience for another living beings welfare has no barriers - nice one. At least you've restored his faith in some humans!
10 hours ago · Unlike · 3

Mansur Rupshi Kara · 147 mutual friends
Anthony Marr, you are both good souls. May you both be rewarded in plenty for this deed.
10 hours ago · Unlike · 2

Becky Daigle People are just to afraid to help another these days. It's a shame we can't do more acts of kindness like this to our fellow humans!
10 hours ago via mobile · Unlike · 5

Lourdes Gutierrez We live in CARZY times and l have help people too, but not as much now as I use too, l would have keep going, just being honest.
10 hours ago via mobile · Unlike · 2

Anthony Marr Lourdes, were I woman, I might have through twice. He could have been a car-jacker. What I did was pretty much automatic. I saw the man waving his arms and pulled over at the same instant, no thinking involved.
9 hours ago · Like · 3

Dan Nigro I had a similar experience several years ago, but I was the guy with the broken down car. A cop even stopped to yell at me to "get that car out of there!" before speeding off. A guy around 80 years old stopped to help. He had a cell phone. He'd seen ...See More
9 hours ago · Unlike · 2

Caitlin Raschke · 2 mutual friends
I gave a lift to a man whose car had broken down in the rain when I was in my 20s. This was pre-mobile phones. He spent the short car ride giving me a lecture about how he could have been a murderer and I must not do that again. I've heeded his advice since and felt bad each time.
9 hours ago via mobile · Unlike · 1

Darleen Newton Rusnak · 55 mutual friends
Anthony, that is one good thing about Kentucky, when you need help, it seems as though someone is always there immediately. So please don't hold the fact that KY has Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul.
9 hours ago · Unlike · 1

Susan Dhod Being a woman, I would have made a call for him. Unfortunately, I am slightly more cautious having been attacked once (not car related - or sort of - if i had a ride home I wouldnt have had this guys hands around my throat. By some mercy he let me go.)
7 hours ago · Unlike · 1