Pay it Forward

Last week one of my and my wife's friends had gone out with some co-workers to celebrate one of their birthdays.  They ate and had a few drinks while they were out, and being responsible our friend decided to take a cab home instead of driving.  The next day my wife drove her to pick her car up in the morning on her way to work.  When they arrived at the place her car was they noticed she had a flat tire.  Walking around her car they realized that all her tires were flat.  It was obvious that someone had decided to let the air out of all her tires.

As they were standing there deciding what to do a young man, they said in his thirties, walked out of one of the businesses that was nearby and walked over to see if he could help.  After they told him the problem, which he could easily see, he said that he had been wanting to get an air compressor and that this was a perfect reason to go ahead and do it.  He told them that he would go pick one up real quick and be back to air her tires up.  They walk inside a nearby restaurant and grab something for breakfast while they wait and he shows back up shortly to air her tires up.

As he starts to air up the first one he notices that they didn't just let the air out of her tires but cut the valve stems to do it.  Once again he tells them that he will pick up some new stems and be right back.  He returns in another short period of time and gets to work replacing the valve stems and airing the tires back up.  When he gets back the second time my wife leaves to go to work, at this point it was evident that our friend would be taken care and didn't need anything else from my wife.

Our friend offers to pay for any expense the guy had, which he declined, so she offered to buy him lunch when he was done.  As he started finishing up she said that she was going to run inside the restaurant and use the restroom but that she would be right back and they could grab some lunch.  However when she returned he had already put all his things up and left after he had finished repairing and filling her tires.

The point I really want to make is what a wonderful community we would have if everyone just did that one thing no matter how big or small everyday to have that positive effect on someone else.  It doesn't have to be going out of your way like this guy did, but just something to make a difference in someones day.  It could be as small as making sure someone knows you appreciate their service where your eating at or holding the door for someone walking in or out of a building.  You never know when someone may just need to be reminded that people care about each other whether they know each other or not.  We should all just try to pass a smile along everyday.

Anyone taking the time to read this please like it and share it.  I don't know who the guy was that helped my friend out, but maybe he sees this and knows that what he did is appreciated, and that I thank him for taking his time to help someone out who needed it.