An Angel…Good Samaritan…or Both?
This week has been a bit of a wild one. To start off, we decided to go to a local satellite store to learn about Direct TV. After we came out of the satellite store and hit the ignition to fire up the ole four door sleigh, our hearts slumped when the battery didn’t turn over. It was dead! I mean stone cold dead!
We weren’t totally surprised, as Robin said the car cranked slowly on the Wednesday morning before Thanksgiving. However, after our long travel over the Thanksgiving holiday, then our battery seemed to be charged nicely. We knew it would need to be replaced this week, but more at our leisure, instead of finding ourselves in an emergency state as we did on Monday night.
Thankfully, across the street was the All American Tire & Wheel shop. Robin braved a busy, four-lane road crossing it at the peak of rush hour in hopes to get someone to jump-start our car. Nick, an employee, graciously attempted to resurrect our battery, but his efforts failed. Fortunately, the shop had a battery that would work in our car and Nick installed the new one.
Nick, our good Samaritan, didn’t have an easy job of it, either. The battery corroded the terminals and clamps badly making it difficult to remove so he could get the battery out of the car. He scrapped and banged, and then scrapped and banged some more until finally, the clamps freed up. He got the job completed and before long our ol’ four-door sleigh purred like a kitten. This young man, an angel no doubt, went beyond the call of duty that night and I…we thank him from the bottom of our hearts.
My Thursday Two Questions are:
1. Have you ever been stranded beside the road?
2. If so, did he/she do more than he/she should? This is the season of such miracles, so share with us how your stranger came to the rescue.
Now share your answers to my Thursday Two Questions, and if you would like to participate in the link up, then be sure to click over to Blessing Reflections’s blog. Happy Thursday!Save
18 Comments
DoanLegacy
1) Yes..just last year, my car did the same thing!
2) no, the people who came to rescue me are AAA contractors, and they just did enough or less to get their share of the money..
I’m glad you’ve met a nice samaritan!
Judy Sheldon-Walker
I have been fortunate a couple of times to have a stranger pull over and change my tire for me on the highway. Generally I call for assistance and have to pay for it, but am grateful for the few times a generous soul assisted and would not allow me to pay them. I believe there are angels who walk among us.
Self Sagacity
I have bee stranded many times, especially in my first car. A lousy Pinto, anyhow. I have never been saved by a stranger- it has always been someone I knew. Even in the days without the cell phones. I was always careful to let someone knew where I was going to be and if they don’t see me, look for me! Been lucky so far, that’s all I could say.
Cathy Kennedy
@DesertRocks…yep, where would be without our angels? I’m glad I have mine watching over us. =D
@Heather…glad it helped to boost your Chrismtas cheer. After all, this is a season of angels bestowing good things to others.
Heather (The Menu Mama)
I love this post and these stories! Perfect to put me in a cheery holiday mood!
I found your blog via Friendly Friday Follow, love it, I’ll be following! 🙂
The Desert Rocks
Yes, this has happened to me too.
I am very blessed. It also happened to my husband and he was surprised that when he turned around to thank the man who showed up out of nowhere-he was gone! Where would we be without angels?
Cathy Kennedy
@SquirrelQueen…the age of cell phones have made life easier, but I do recall the days without them and frustrations that accompanied being totally stranded.
@Judy…I’m like you, I believe there are angels walking amongst us.
@Lui…outgoing personalities aren’t kept down too long, such as you. Good going!
Lui
I once inherited my brother’s car )to use while he was abroad) and since it was designed for a racer and not a clumsy slowpoke driver like me, I had lots of ‘stranded’ stories even when I got a driver to do the driving for me. Surprisingly, a lot of people would offer help and I’m not one to sit and mope. I’d flag everyone passing my way and whine to their hearts! Ha, that worked…a lot!
Judy Sheldon-Walker
I have been fortunate a couple of times to have a stranger pull over and change my tire for me on the highway. Generally I call for assistance and have to pay for it, but am grateful for the few times a generous soul assisted and would not allow me to pay them. I believe there are angels who walk among us.
SquirrelQueen
Nick was definitely a good Samaritan, most would not have tried that hard.
Back in my single days, and before cell phones, I got stranded several times. I was usually fortunate to have someone stop and help change a tire or whatever the problem was. There were a couple of times I had to change my own tire in the middle of nowhere.
No particular stranger stands out in my mind, at the time they were all angels to me.
Cathy Kennedy
@antrisdale…Amanda, that’s a spine-tingling kind of story. What are the odds that the same State Patrol Officer helped you and your dad? I dare say this is another God purpose mission. This gal is definitely an earthly angel…nope, make that a Christmas angel. =D
Cathy Kennedy
@IcyBC…I’m not always the one to turn a situation into a positive viewpoint, but this time I felt where we were at that moment had to be devinely initated.
♥-Icy BC-♥
I haven’t experienced being stranded by the road side, but I have met many angels in my life though I didn’t recognize the angel until much later.Your attitude in this situation is wonderful, and you’re fast in making it a positive one…
antrisdale
I broke down in my truck on the side of a two-lane country road in a Colorado blizzard with two greyhounds in the cab. Oh, and out of range of the nearest cell tower. For an hour I watched car after car pass by. Even a couple of sheriff cars passed by without stopping.
A small car pulled up and offered to help out. It was one of the off-duty highway patrol gals that lived in the area. Somehow, we managed to get both greyhounds in the back of her Honda while she called the State Patrol to request a tow to a local shop she knew. Then she drove me to the shop, where the shop’s owner’s wife came by to pick up me and the greyhounds until my husband could come get me after the blizzard. It’s my Christmas story, since it happened two days before Christmas.
Best part of the story, right after Christmas my dad gets a card from some lady he had helped out during a blizzard years before. It was from the State Patrol Officer who helped me out saying she had finally found a way to repay my dad by helping out a total stranger on the side of the road.
Cathy Kennedy
@Margaret…sometimes it’s hard to see the good in a situation, especially when you’re refering to a new vehicle getting damaged. My husband was a bit upset because our battery decided to die at that particular moment, but I reminded him that it could’ve been far worse. He soon had a thanksgiving heart despite the untimely death of our battery. As you know, it often times takes one partner to open the eyes of the other. We take turns doing this from time-to-time.
Margaret Duarte
My husband and I were stranded once at night on a curvy road after hitting a buck with my brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee. It took me a while to be grateful that we were both alive and unharmed because I was so upset that my gorgeous new car wasn’t new anymore. My husband stayed amazingly calm and told me not to worry. All woud be okay. We called Triple A and the nice tow-truck driver not only towed our jeep but took us all the way home, a 45 minute drive.
Cathy Kennedy
@DoanLegacy…this isn’t this first time we’ve had completely strangers to be earthly angels. I’m always reminded this time of the year of several Thanksgivings ago when our car broke down about two hours from home and how a family we did not know helped us out tremendously. God put us in the right place is all I can say.
DoanLegacy
1) Yes..just last year, my car did the same thing!
2) no, the people who came to rescue me are AAA contractors, and they just did enough or less to get their share of the money..
I’m glad you’ve met a nice samaritan!