Friday the 13th, a Flat Tire, James & Making a Difference

It was just your everyday hurry-up-and-rush-so-I-can-make-it-to-the-airport-on-time morning for me. No matter that it was Friday the 13th…that thought hadn’t even entered my consciousness (yet) at that point. I hurried down the 30 stories of my girlfriend’s condo (in an elevator, of course!), suitcases in tow, a heavy box of my upcoming leadership conference flyers atop one of them, and believe it or not, I was actually ahead of schedule! Sure to be an on-time arrival at the airport for me today! I was elated!

I got in my rental car after throwing my luggage in the trunk, said goodbye to my girlfriend and started my car. I pulled out of the covered parking space and noticed something strange with the steering, but kept going because I had to make it to the airport on time…it was the last available flight (at noon before Valentine’s Day weekend, and I had already tried several times to get a later one but to no avail.) So I pulled out of the garage, took a right toward the stop sign, and I immediately sensed I was in trouble – the horrible “get sick in the pit of your stomach” routine, the KNOWING, that YES, YOU have a FLAT TIRE! It was unfortunately validated by this young 30-something year old man in blue jeans and a sweatshirt who just happened to be walking by, and who was waving me over and saying “Lady, you have a flat tire.”

Panic immediately took control over my smug state of calmness – I had been so positively anticipating my “on time arrival” to the airport, and now my hopes were dashed. What would I do? AAA would certainly take too long, and I most assuredly was not skilled in the art of tire changing (though perhaps a good topic for my next Possible Woman Leadership Conference for sure!) So I got out of the car, told this young man that I was on my way to the airport for my 12:30 flight, and he said, “don’t worry, I will change the tire for you. I have a car just like this and it will only take a minute.” So he took control (good thing because I wouldn’t have known what to do,) took the spare out of the trunk and proceeded to jack the car up and replace the old tire with the spare. While talking with him I learned that he was on the way to make his mortgage payment, had several mini-car wash stations in the area, and that his name was James. He had left his business cards in his car at the car wash.

By this time my girlfriend pulled up in her car and joined our conversation. She said she would bring her car to get washed at his car wash, which she did later in the day. James was great! He literally saved the day for me, or at least guaranteed my last chance at an airplane ride back home that same day…and I am eternally grateful to him for helping me out of the kindness of his heart. So James, if you are reading this, thank you for helping me actually make my “on-time arrival” with American Airlines today. You have truly made a difference in MY life. And when I find out his last name I will post it on a future blog so all of you reading this can take your cars to his car wash too! Thanks, James, from the bottom of my heart! And a Happy Valentines Weekend to all of you!