Kindness and love regardless of suffering
There are extraordinary souls amongst us.
Housekeeping and Biz Stuff:
To all who have ordered books: I'm waiting for another shipment. As soon as it's in, I'll get them signed and get them out of here, asap. You'll get a notice from the "Orders" email on the status. Thank you for your patience.
Next....
Last week, I had a routine oil change for my car. They changed a couple of filters also. I drove home just fine, all is well. I needed to run a quick errand. I took my little puppy (okay, he's a puppy but he's quite large) with me. When I got out to the car, I realized I forgot my phone. Quick errand, puppy in car, and I knew I'd recently had the car serviced. So...I didn't run back to the house to snag my phone.
There are several morals of the story. Spoiler alert: Don't forget your phone.
I did my quick tasks and started heading home. If any of you are familiar with Salt Lake, then you might be aware of all the traffic on Foothill Blvd heading to the U or U. It wasn't rush hour or anything, but it's still well-traveled.
I was on Foothill heading towards the University of Utah.
Suddenly, when I put my foot to the gas pedal: My car paused and then died. I quickly started it again. Gas on—and fizzle1. I was in the farthest lane—on the left. There are 3 lanes on Foothill heading to the U. I drifted over towards the side. My car stopped, diagonally, facing the snow-covered Bonneville Golf Course.
No phone. Puppy thinking it's time to play. Many honks, screams, and obscenities blasted at me from passing cars. As if I didn't know I couldn't park there.....2
There was so much traffic that I didn't want to hop out and wave my arms for help. I stuck my hand out the driver’s window and helplessly waived. Like an SOS signal to the abyss.
More honks and obscenities. After about 10 minutes, a truck stopped in front of me. A young man hopped out. He calmly walked to my side of the car and had me try some things. Foot on brake, start the car, pop the hood, etc. Â People started screaming at him. He rolled his eyes.
He ran over to the passenger's side. Had me put the car in neutral then he pushed me closer to the side. At least I wasn't blocking two lanes now.
More people screamed. He muttered, "People are dumb. They don't even know what a problem is."
I told him I forgot my phone.3 He calmly called Laurel and my contractor friend. Those are the only two numbers I have memorized.
Neither answered. Who answers an unknown number? It's usually only pesky telemarketers.
Finally he called 9-1-1. I heard him describe the situation. I was stalled near Primary Children's Hospital. Yes, I was near Primary Children’s. However, I would have said I was on Foothill, near Bonneville Golf Course, close to 800 where you turn up to go to the zoo. He finally looked at something on his phone and gave the dispatcher our exact coordinates.
I heard him say he’d wait. He asked me to buckle my seat belt. If a car came barreling around the corner and hit me, he didn’t want me hurt. The puppy got a lot of attention as I calmed down. I finally said, "I heard you say Primary Children’s. Are you going up there?"
He looked down, then met my eye, and explained that his daughter had "coded out" last night. He was on his way up there to be with his wife. Tears spilled down my cheeks. His eyes misted over.
The police finally came, and he reached through the car window and touched my hand. With tears freely flowing, I swallowed and said, "Thank you so much. I felt so helpless. With all that’s happening, you still stopped. Thank you so much."
He nodded and walked away.
I thought of Viktor Frankl’s book, "Man's Search for Meaning." Frankl was a Holocaust survivor. He told of a few prisoners in the concentration camps, in spite of their own suffering, still comforted and supported others.4
This young man's actions were of that caliber. Calm, kind and loving, regardless of his own situation and pain.
I know that victims and survivors are suffering. May we all reach a point where we can help one another, regardless of our own pain.5
"For you have done unto the least of these, you have done unto me."
It turned out when they changed the air filter, they caught a little tiny leaf in the filter. Caused the whole car to seize up and die. I'm sure there's an analogy in there about a little leaf stopping a giant machine. Don't be surprised if you see that in another missive.
To those people driving the cars whipping past me, I apologize for calling you gnats and asking for a fly swatter. I know you didn’t hear me, but it’s the thought that counts….
Ahh, a lesson: don’t forget your cell phone.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4069.Man_s_Search_for_Meaning
I’d like to believe that helping others can alleviate our own pain. However, there are a slew of co-dependent survivors who don’t take care of themselves and try to fix others. That’s not what I mean. Survivors/victims must take care of themselves. It simply means that if you are able, to be kind, patient, and extend a helping hand.