HEART OF HUMAN KINDNESS

Totaled car, side view

This was not the photo I had planned on posting.

Over the weekend, I was in this car which ran off the road, flipped over, and landed upright. The glass from the sunroof, back and side windows are completely smashed. That is not what I'm going to talk about.

I want to talk about the human heart. I was in the middle of a desert with no cell reception when the car flipped, smashing out the windows and throwing everything inside up in the air. The food, the water, all gone. I saw shrimp I had packed now marinating in gravel. In the end, the car was not drivable, and there was a backpack wedged under the front. It is times like these when you realize you are really and truly screwed. 

What happened then is solely the result of the innate goodness of other people. Cars driving by saw us by the side of the road disoriented and covered in dirt, and pulled over to help. I was told I might have a concussion, which made me afraid to take a nap. In short order, another driver was hailed who was going towards the nearest town, a backpack was unwedged, and we and our dirty things were put into a car and dropped off at a car rental agency. It doesn't end there.

The rental agency had no cars available. We asked why - they were all on reserve for other people, every last car - there was nothing they could do. In fact, every rental agency was out of cars. Such is life in a small town. I should just pitch my tent in the dirt. But then - human kindness!  The manager (I assume) came in, pointed at us, and said "Look at them! Just give them a car - any car, washed or not - so they can drive back!"

  

So without these people, whose names are unknown to me, I would not be here today. I would be marinating in the desert. For these wonderful people, I am forever thankful, thankful, and thankful!