BY RICHARD MORGAN

It was one of those days, just a week or so ago. Nothing was going right. I had way too many things to do, and not enough time. I was running around trying to get it all done, and things just kept going wrong. I was…frustrated to say the least.

That night I had a track meet to score in Gibsonburg. That’s one of my part-time jobs – I manage and score track meets. And we had a huge meet that night in Gibsonburg. I left in plenty of time (I thought), but as I was passing through Gibsonburg on the way to the high school, I heard a horrible noise coming from my right rear. I was right in front of a gas station, so I pulled in. And sure enough, my tire wasn’t just low, it was flat. Completely. Like running-on-the-rim flat. I couldn’t make it to the high school, and changing the tire was going to take a while. And I was now running late.

If you’ve never changed a tire on a pickup, you may not realize that it’s not like a car, where you open the trunk, lift the floor covering, and remove the tire and jack. No, it’s not that easy. On a truck, you have to find the tools, which are probably behind the back seat (I think!). Which means taking all my mowing and track equipment out of the seat. Then you have to go through some maneuvers to lower the spare, which is under the bed. Etc, etc, etc… I’ve done it before, but it’s not easy. And it takes time – time that I didn’t have.

So I called one of the Gibsonburgers, asked them to come and get me, and contemplated how I would have to fix this tire at about 11 p.m. when the meet was done. And oh, of course it was supposed to rain.

It couldn’t get much worse. Until an “older” gentleman walked up and said “Looks like you have a flat.” Yep, well I do. I told him where I was going and how I was in a hurry, and he replied, “Yeah, I know those people at Gibsonburg; I used to work there.” Then he said “Tell you what – I can fix this truck for you while you’re at the meet!” REALLY? YOU WOULD DO THAT? I’ll gladly pay you. Just tell me what I owe.

So one of the Gibsonburgers came and got me. I left my keys with the guy and went to the track meet. Besides the fact that we had lightning, rain, etc. (which describes just about every meet I’ve done this year!) it all went well. I completely forget about my truck. Until toward the end of the night, the Athletic Director came up and said “Here’s your keys. He fixed it for you and delivered it. There it is in the parking lot.”

And that was that. I walked to the truck (in the rain) and all was well. My spare was in the bed, and it all worked. And the thing is, I never did pay the guy. I don’t even remember his name (Dave?). I asked the Athletic Director for his address, but he said “No, it’s fine. He doesn’t want any money. He was just happy to help.”

So whoever you are, this is the best I can do for a thank you. You saved a night that was going south. I can’t express how grateful I am.

So yes, it started out as a bad-awful day. But one stranger made the difference. I’m always amazed when that happens. We seem to have so many disappointments in life; it’s so great when we get a bonus like this.
Sometimes, life really is good!