Today's the first day of summer!!!! Woo!!
Anyway, I want to share with you a small, very simple, but heart-warming story. (I'm warning you, this story will be over in just a few sentences.)
Not too long ago, someone I knew got in a car accident. Not bad at all -- no one was injured. Just a (I'm guessing) "Hey, I don't need to check my blind spot--CRASH!" type thing.
The person I know (a female) was not at fault at all. It was the driver that was merging that didn't look carefully or something.
So that driver and the person I know (let's call her Hermione) drive off to the side, etc etc. And it was actually a good bit of damage to both cars.
Then, some other person comes behind Hermione, gives her his card, and says, "I saw everything. If you need a witness, give me a call." (And I'm just quoting what Hermione told me, so it probably isn't exactly what he said.)
I mean, how incredible is that?!
Granted, after they talked, the driver at fault completely admitted his guilt without any outside pressure at all, admitted it to the police officer as well, and everything was done without any hair-pulling or gnashing of teeth. (That's awesome to see, too, a driver at fault admitting his fault without making excuses.)
But the guy gave his card without knowing anything, without knowing what would happen. Simply. And it very well could have turned into, "No, it was Hermione's fault! I didn't do anything" type thing. And Hermione might very well have had to use his number.
A simple, and powerful, act of kindness. Something I probably would never have thought of doing. I would have just been like, "OOOHHH, that was a bad crash," wince, and then drive off with the traffic, along with a story to tell someone else.
I just thought I'd share it with you, because it's things like these that make me happy.
I want more stories like these, stories from you. What have you seen, or what have you done? (Don't be scared if it's too 'simple'. I mean, the above was pretty darn simple, and I gushed over the fact that three (maybe four) separate men helped to push our car when it ran out of gas. And I'd probably gush when I see someone picking up trash that isn't theirs. SIMPLE IS AWESOME!)
You're right - no one wants to admit fault. That was a nice thing that guy did with his card. And it only takes a minute to do.
ReplyDeleteLove this! I have a similar story. Not too long ago, I saw a young guy riding his skateboard, well off to the side of the road. He was a clean guy, but had lots of piercings and tats, which is why I think a police car blue-lighted him. (yes, blue-lighted the guy on his skateboard!) Anyway, I the guy wasn't doing anything wrong, so I pulled over in a nearby parking lot and watched to see what would happen next. The officer exited his vehicle and ranted to the guy about staying off the road then he left. When the guy headed down the road, close to me, I asked him what the deal was because it looked like harassment to me. The guy said, "Oh nothing, they're just always giving me trouble because I look different." I told him that I had pulled over to watch just in case more happened, and I wanted him to have a witness. You wouldn't believe his expression--his whole face lit up! You'd think I'd handed him a million dollars, and he said, "Thank you. I'm not used to people taking up for me." After that, he rode away, and his whole posture was different--straight and confident. :)
ReplyDeleteYay, it's the first day of winter Down Under - not!
ReplyDeleteNice thing to do. There is hope for the human race yet.
That's a wonderful story. And jeez, it IS summer now. Wow. But thanks for sharing that!! It's nice to see that some people out there still have goodness like that in them, especially with the road rage that becomes our US Highway System...
ReplyDeleteA few weeks back, as I was getting into my car I looked down and saw a credit card. Luckily, it was face down; the face had the Italian flag, which is quite noticeable. Running up a tab never even occurred to me. Since I work in infosec, preventing this sort of thing is what I do for a living.
ReplyDeleteEven though I was pressed for time (my wife and I had a rare date that night) I called the credit card company. They were prepared to just cancel it. But I persevered. "I know you can't give me the card owner's number. But you can call and give him or her mine."
About 30 minutes later, I got a call from the card owner. She didn't realize she had dropped it. As it turns out, she graduated from the same high school as me.
I really believe in karma.
Love stories like this! Earlier in the school year I challenged my students to perform 2 random acts of kindness every week. Not all of them followed through all the way, but so many of them did so many wonderful little things. It was great!
ReplyDeleteI was actually this || close to being in that type of accident, a girl on her phone merging with me in the other lane and wouldn't have stopped had I not blew my horn.
ReplyDelete