Thanks. No really; thanks a lot.

Am I the only one that stops to help people they don't know?

I was heading across the parking lot today after finishing up at a medical appointment. The hospital parking lot is really large and it’s a long walk. Just in front of my truck was a woman who was, having just parked, getting out of her own car. As I passed I notice a familiar sickly-sweet smell coming from around the front of her car: antifreeze! I turned to her and asked if she'd noticed any problems with her car; if it had been overheating on her. She told me that it did seem to be overheating so I asked if she’d mind if I checked under the hood to ensure she had enough radiator fluid for her drive home.

She thanked me, popped the hood, and I immediately found a leak on the back of her engine. I couldn’t do anything to fix it of course – not in a parking lot –  but I showed her where the leak was and told her to bring the car to her mechanic as soon as possible. Next I checked the fluid level and saw that it was empty. She had a small bottle of water which we added. She said she would bring out more after her appointment.

I got in my truck to leave, internally congratulating myself for stopping; I could have just passed on and let her fall to her own fate. It felt good to do a kind turn to a fellow human being even if I didn’t know her.  The whole effort took less than two minutes, which was about the time it would have taken her to get into the hospital had I not stopped to help. That‘s important here. It’s important because, as I sat in my truck and watched her walk away towards the hospital, the San Antonio heavens chose that moment to open and release on her an aerial deluge of cold, spring rain.