MOULY: There are Good Samaritans out there

Sometimes you have to trust in the goodness of others

Last Thursday, I was on my way to work driving down the street when all of a sudden, I lost all power steering.

Not to worry, I had just started my car and was travelling fairly slow so it took a second to catch on as to why I couldn’t turn the steering wheel without an excessive amount of force.

I thought perhaps I hadn’t started it properly and was not in the right gear or something. After trying all of the remedies I could think of it was not letting loose and seemingly locked.

I eased around the next corner barely able to make it go in the right direction. Fortunately, in Vermilion there was not was a lot of traffic at the time and I was able to safely put over and park on Main Street.

As any good woman would do, I Googled ways to unlock it and attempted turning my wheel back and forth restarting it in increments, whatever wild ideas I could find. With no improvement, I wondered whether I could make it to the shop if I put on my flashers and drove really slow.

Time was running out. With the first of two interviews scheduled in just a few minutes, I asked to borrow a friend’s car and planned to pick up some power steering fluid while I was out. The generosity and helpfulness of others did not end there.

When I returned to check the fluid level, I had just enough time to get a sunburn while cleaning off the cap as not to get any dirt in it. Although it was not empty I added a little for safe measure just to see if it would make a difference. No such luck.

The day was almost over and I determined that I had better call AMA to get it towed and see if the shop would let me have it dropped off overnight. Not only was Webb’s Ford willing to let it be dropped off, they were going to get looked at first thing in the morning.

Before anyone arrived, a neighbour offered to take a look to see if they could lend a hand. It was much appreciated because it would be possible for me to just not recognize something that I should be doing.

When Big Time Towing, the AMA representative arrived, he was also very helpful and willing to go to an extra effort to get my car towed from a difficult location. Because I was parked on Main Street I did not have a proper address of where my car was located, but he recognized my name on the sheet from all of the times he has had to unlock it for me, and recognized my car parked on the side of the road as well.

Without the kindness of others, I would not have been able to accomplish my work that day or to maintain composure throughout.

Even though I was pressed for time, I was able to take things in stride. Managing the situation came down to focusing on one task at a time. Whether there is a little leak, or the rack and pinion need replacing – or the whole car for that matter, I am thankful for the assistance I received throughout the day.

If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, I encourage you not to worry, but to trust in the goodness of others.