Wednesday, July 06, 2016

I Am Now Someone's Future Angel




The other day, I had my car, Roddy, inspected in Watertown. I’m happy to say he passed.


Roddy (and if your car doesn't have a name, one of you has no soul.)


After doing that, I decided to give myself a treat. It was 3:45. I’m usually due to work (as scorekeeper and statistician for a men's fast-pitch softball league) at 6:00 in South Boston, but I decided I’d drive there early and indulge myself with a couple of burgers at Sullivan’s (no relation) on Castle Island. Rather than arrive at my job tensed up from a bumper-to-bumper ride on the Massachusetts Turnpike during rush hour, I could relax, eat, and enjoy a nice walk around a lovely park in the sunshine.

 Sullivan's - great burgers! [Image from Universal Hub - great Boston news aggregator!]

I arrived at Sully’s a bit after 4pm. I got my burgers and walked around the park.

       Overhead of Castle Island. Sullivan's is just out of the picture, upper right by the parking lot.

I was relaxed and happy. I started back to my car at about 5:15. As I approached, I saw something troubling. Roddy's lights were on.

I couldn’t understand it. Roddy is one of those cars whose lights are always on while driving, but turn off automatically when the motor isn’t running. I tried to start Roddy. No go - dead battery. And then I discovered the problem. The mechanic who performed the inspection had turned Roddy's lights on and never turned them off. And now I was in the parking lot at Sullivan’s with a dead car, about forty minutes before work.

I thought I had jumper cables, so I checked Roddy's trunk. Nope. There was nothing to do but ask random burger-eating strangers if they had cables and could give me a jump.

The first ten or twelve folks I asked couldn’t help. They were kind enough, making sad burger-eating faces while giving me the bad news, but now I was getting desperate. I pictured myself walking a couple of miles to work, carrying my equipment (about fifteen pounds of bases, balls, gloves, catcher's masks and scorebooks, usually hauled in Roddy's trunk) and being late anyway. And then having to hope that someone there would be able to give me a jump before the park closed and motor access – in or out – became impossible.

I asked another fellow – climbing into his car with burgers, for he and his elderly mother – if he had cables. He did! And he wasted no time in trying to give me a jump.

I say “trying” because it didn’t take. Neither of us could figure why, other than maybe his cables were bad. I hoped so. If something else was wrong, I was up the creek. I thanked him for the effort and set off to find another kind soul.

As luck – or blessings – would have it, the next person I asked also had cables and he said he’d be glad to help. We hooked our batteries together. I turned the key. Vroooom! First try, and you would have been hard-pressed to find a bigger smile in all of Southie than was on my face at that moment.

As we unhooked the cables, I offered to buy my angel a couple of burgers and some fries. We were, after all, at one of the best places in Boston for them and he had just arrived when I asked him for help. He flatly refused. He said, “Praise God and pass it on.”

And so this is the first part of that. As for passing it on, the next stranger I meet in the outside world who asks me for a favor will get it, no questions asked.

I’m looking forward to being someone’s angel. In case I’m supposed to be the same sort of angel I got, I’ve purchased jumper cables.

(Roddy is also looking forward to passing along the favor. After all, I was just looking at being late for work, but he was brought back from the dead!)

Soon, with more better stuff.


21 comments:

Suldog said...

Did I say "Thank You" for reading? I don't believe I did. Well, now I am. Thank You!

(not necessarily your) Uncle Skip said...

When I saw the title I was prepared to mourn Roddy.
So happy that's not the case.
Thanks again for the ride back to the hotel 👍

Anonymous said...

So

Anonymous said...

So glad to hear dear Roddy is up and running.

Char said...

Don't forget to actually put them in Roddy! Nice story.

Hilary said...

There is far more kindness around than not. Paying it forward helps keep that goodness alive. Thanks for writing about it! :)

silly rabbit said...

I love this post! I have been in need enough times and had much welcomed help from angels myself. It's a good reminder that we all have the opportunity to be angels ourselves and make the world a better place, one kindness at a time.

silly rabbit said...

Too many ourselves. Lol

joeh said...

I always have cables. Have yet to use them myself, but they have come in handy for a few others.

Ah for the good old days when you could push it to a small hill and pop the clutch.

Absolut Ruiness said...

Your writing brings succor and comic relief to many hearts. Believe me, you have already been an angel and whatever good you do next is only going to be a bonus. I'm happy your story didn't have you heavy lifting on the highway.

messymimi said...

Yes, our cars have names. Yes, i've been on both sides of this coin, getting and giving jump-starts at various times. Glad it all turned out well and knowing you, you've already been the generous stranger in this story at previous times, and will be again.

Craig said...

So, it seems you're moving up in the world. . .

Those 'angelic' encounters are one of the under-rated joys of life.

Anonymous said...

I have been the benefactor of so many angels that I don't think I'll ever be able to pass them on, at least not in that way! (After a similar experience, I now have jumper cables in my car (Ellie), too!)

Jackie said...

Thankful for the kindness of otherwise; glad that Roddy got his spark back.
Like a previous reader, I thought Roddy had "passed." So glad that you are still a team.

Jackie said...

"others"....

Fireblossom said...

Hooray for angels and for Roddy being back from the netherworld! My favorite car was a Ford pony car named Red Rachel. I miss her still.

Maggie May said...

I'm really pleased this story had a happy ending and that your angel turned up, after many blind allies.
A really interesting read!
Maggie x

Juli said...

We have been trying to get to the island for about 2 years now.

I'll remember to bring my jumper cables when I do make it there. :)

Shammickite said...

I have been in need of some kindness just recently and have received a lot, and I am only too willing to pay it back when needed. And my car's name is Bluebottle. There has been a long list of named cars in my past.... Beluga the White Whale, Polly, The General, and Erik the Red Volvo. Best wishes to Roddy, keep those cylinders pumpin'!

Matt Conlon said...

You know, I am having one hell of a time trying to name my current car. The damn thing just doesn't feel like it has a name... Maybe because it's a lease, and not technically "mine".

Lease... Lisa? Nah, I know too many of those... I think it's a dude, too.

I dunno.

MattConlon.com
"Don't call it a comeback, I... probably won't post as much as I intend anyway."

RozWarren said...

I love a story with a happy ending.