As fate would have it I had to drive our S up to northern New Jersey to conduct several training classes on the product that I support. Barbara wanted to take the Infinity this week. On my way up I-95 just south of the Susquanna River Bridge I picked up a nail in the center lane of I-95 (What a nail is doing in the center lane of I-95 is a whole different discussion) The short version of the long story is that, the tire sufferred side wall damage even though I pulled over before it went totally flat.


I was in a bad spot to change the tire, up against a retaining wall and around a right hand curve. I placed a flare about a hundred feet behind me on the shoulder and proceeded to put the temp on the LR. I did not feel comfortable doing the total swap. After I got under way I pulled off at the next exit (About three miles later) and pulled over into the right shoulder where I felt that it was safer to swap the tires around. I then had to swap the tires three times, to get the temp on the LF and the LF tire swapped to the rear. I then drove to the nearest service center on I-95 the manager was helpful as I asked him to put a plug in the tire as I could see the nail that had punctured it. He tested the tire by inflating it first that showed that the sidewalls had been damaged. Two bubbles appeared. He made three phone calls to try to find an S-02 and the answer was "tomorrow". After he called the Honda dealer they apparently suggest Tire Racks warehouse in Delaware. I got off of I-95 just south of the Delaware Memorial Bridge and found Tire Rack's warehouse but was informed that it was wholesale only and they did not have the ability to mount a tire. I asked if they could point me to a tire installer close buy that could send someone back to pick up a S-02 rear tire for me and install it. The sent me to a place about a mile away. It is a two man shop, and as fate would have it, his tire guy was on vacation this week. But after explaining my delema, and that I was at his mercy he called Tire Rack and confirmed that the had the tire in stock wrote out a check and gave it too me to go over and pick up the tire. I then returned to Olde Towne Tires (302-322-3700)at 1B Merit Drive in New Castle, DE 19720 Where Jeff Peacock, the owner, mounted and balanced the new tire. He added forty dollars profit over his cost and charged me a total of five dollars to mount and computer balance, replace the valve stem, and swap the new tire to the rear, front back to the front. :-)


So, after everything was over, a bad day turned out better than it could have.

This now brings up another question about the value of a road hazzard protection plan. If I had purchased it from the local dealer that I bought my last set of S-02 from it would have been useless. As it was, I had to put my luggage in the passenger set along with some equipment that I am hauling to put the flat left rear in the trunk and bungi cord the trunk lid shut.

After everything was over, it was a bad day that turned out better than it could have because of some people that where happy to help a stranger. It helped restore my faith in society.

Have you encountered any good samaritans recently?

P.S. Olde Towne Tires is about a mile away from Tire Racks Delaware warehouse and he does not stock tires so he can be very competitive on tire pricing. PM me if you want to know what he charged me for an 225/50 X 16 OEM S-02 Bridgestone.

 

Yes, Matt, I had two good Samaritans in one day. At the moment, I can only recall one of them. I was at Costco unloading my basket into my van, and a man asked me if I needed help. I said, "No", as I got the last big box off the bottom of the basket and put it in the van, but the man took the basket away, back-tracked, and hitched the basket over a curb to keep it from rolling, and then went on across the lot to his car. I thanked him twice including a, "Thank you very much!" I was surprised at his offer and then that he took car of the basket for me.

Now what was the other one? It was on the same day. I think I dropped a bunch of stuff, and a man helped me pick it up. Vintage mind is going.

 

It was the Friday night before my recital this past Saturday that I realized that I did not have enough chairs for the 100 + people I was expecting. The recital hall had promised to bring in extra chairs but since I didn't tell them how many (silly me), they thought 20 extra chairs would be enough since they'd never seen the kind of crowd I was about to bring in. Well I panicked knowing that all the rental places were closed by 8:30 but I called around anyway thinking maybe someone would work with me on an emergency basis the next morning. Well, after 4-5 calls, most of them wouldn't be back until Monday. I started praying as usual thinking I couldn't ask 50 or so people to stand during the recital.

Almost in tears, I made one last call around 10:00p.m. and lo and behold, a live voice was on the other end of the phone. He had his office phone forwarded to his cell phone (smooth move). I explained my emergency situation and not only did he have 50 chairs, he could have them delivered the next morning since I caught him before the truck was loaded for Saturday. Without any credit card information or payment arrangements, he left 50 chairs along with a COD invoice, even though I wasn't there to pay him then either, so that my show could go on in style and comfort. When I finally got around to paying him on Monday (along with a big tip), I thanked him (and God) for trusting me and rescuing me from what could have been a disaster and told him he'd have my business from now on and I'd spread the word about his business. Talk about your good Samaritan and close call. Whew! God is good!

 

Every now and again people surprise us. I like it when that happens.

 

I hope the brevity of this thread is not an indication of our lack of random or otherwise acts of kindness.

It seems like it's our nature not to fully appreciate the good and respond accordingly. Rememer that movie w/ Kevin spacey? Pay it forward I think?

It was a few years ago when I was unemployed and bummed out that the overhead door to the shipping container that I kept the 'S' in broke a cable. It's no easy thng to repair, the door was stuck 1/2 way and I was frustrated w/ my own efforts. As I walked around the block, incredibly in the crosswalk in front of me at a red light was an Overhead Door repair truck. I quickly flagged him down and asked him to take me the block or so (in his van) to the car and showed him the door. After spending 45 minutes on his lunch hour, he fixed the door, using a special tool to wind the spring, etc, and did it all for free! Not a dime; he refused to take anything!
In all the years before and since, I've never seen another Overhead Door truck anywhere.

 

Nothing moves me to tears faster than random acts of kindness. Makes me return the favor whenever and whereever I can. And it really does restore one's faith in human nature.

 

But on the other hand have you ever heard the adage, "No good deed ever goes unpunished."

How often have you tried to do something nice or good only to have it backfire in your face, and you wind up paying for trying to do good?

 

That's a whole 'nother thread, lil Bro.

 

 

True Rob, but that shouldn't keep us that aren't too cynical and jaded from doing what's right. Better to error on the side of helping than not whenever possible.
Good Samaritan laws intended to help some situations? I wonder how successful they are.

It is amazing how in spite of all these barriers some people will still go way out of their way to help others w/o expectation of gain.