So here’s the story. I was at work today when I got a call from a good friend of mine; she was locked out of her car with her kid and needed help. Being the good friend I am, and since the store was well staffed, I went to the store she was stuck at to help her out since I have AAA. I call then up only to find out that my membership had expired and not renewed no help there. Doing everything I could not to call a locksmith and pay the $50+ to unlock her car I called a friend of mine who used to work for a locksmith. Between the time I called and the time he showed up, my friend’s kid had pooped in her diaper and all the fresh ones were locked in friend’s car. When my friend finally showed up he told us that he had to give most of his tools back when he stopped working at the lock smith but had brought a set of lock picks he had as well as a clothes hanger. We spent a good 20 minutes or more trying different things but nothing would work, he just didn’t have the right tools for the job. At this point all was lost; there was a locked car, a poopy diaper, and the last option of calling a lock smith and paying the fee when a couple walks by that had happened to notice that she was locked out when they entered the store. They stopped and the lady asked if my friend needed help and offered to use her AAA membership to get a locksmith out to her! My friend quickly accepted the help and I thanked the lady before returning to work thinking all was resolved.
About 10 minutes later my friend comes walking into my store, no car in sight. Luckily the store she was stuck at was right across the street from me. She told me that AAA had said there would be a wait of 2-3 hours before help would arrive and the couple had to get their groceries home and wouldn’t be able to wait that long. The couple did, however, get my friend a diaper for her kid so the poopy was no more. She also told me that there was a locksmith in the store parking lot, the same company that happens to have the AAA contract for this area. He was apparently sitting in the parking lot doing nothing, and when she asked him for help he quickly refused with something along the lines of “Go away, I’m busy.” She was completely devastated when she came to my store at this point, she had resigned herself to the last option of paying a locksmith when at the last moment who should appear into my parking lot like a super heroine driving a truck, the lady from the couple walked up to my friend and told her that AAA had called her cell phone and was on their way to unlock the car. Crisis resolved thanks to the helpfulness and compassion of a complete stranger! Neither I nor my friend could believe what had just happened, not only did someone who we’ve never met before offer to help, but followed through in her time of need. Needless to say we were amazed, crisis resolved, the day could go on again. The sour side? The guy who unlocked her car was the guy already in the parking lot. He didn’t even move his van, just walked to her car, spent a couple minutes opening it, and was gone.
I honestly can’t remember the last time I’ve ever seen someone go out of their way that far to help someone in need. People like that are few and far between but it always reaffirms my faith in humanity that there are still some people that won’t just rubber neck and move on.
Just wanted to share. 