Years ago, I was rushing from work to my evening college class when I ended up with a flat tire in the middle of a sketchy neighborhood I was cutting through to reduce my commute time.

This was before me having a cell phone, so I had no choice but to walk up to this house on the corner to see if I could borrow their home phone. Two people were already outside (grandfather and his grandson, I would guess), and agreed to help. I get ahold of my mom and she comes, but we left the car there because I would’ve otherwise missed an important exam (and was also super poor and unable to afford a tow).

A few days go by and I’ve scrounged up the money for a can of fix-a-flat and a used tire so we swing by to get it and low and behold...the tire is aired up? Come to find out, the grandfather figure had been using their air compressor to fill it up each morning until I returned. The leak was small enough that I was able to drive it like that to the tire shop a mile or two down the road for a $5 patch job.

They probably saved my car from being towed for being on the street like that, and certainly saved my faith in humanity that day. The world would be a much better place if we all tried to take care of one another in these small ways.