This poor lady, who was in her late 50's, had her car run out of gas on the state highway by my work. I was outside on my break when I saw her walking up behind the store, and she asked if there was a phone she could use. I told her that inside the store there were phones that we could let her use for emergency calls. I went back in and about 5 minutes later, this lady comes strolling up and asks to use the phone. She told me that her car ran out of gas and she had to call someone for help. The people she called asked for an email address so they could send a confirmation of roadside assistance being sent out. I gave her my email since I was able to check it on the work computer.
About an hour and half later, the lady comes back in and says that the roadside assistance would not go on the road that she claimed her car was on because it was a toll road, and that there was no way she walked that far to the store. The guy, who had came with his own personal car and no credentials, ended up driving her around a different road for 45 minutes looking for the car that wasn't even there.
At this point the poor lady is worrying about the cops having the car towed off the road, and that her family doesn't know where she is. Once again I let her use the phone, then offer that I could drive her to her car. Since it was getting late and dark out, I left work 30 minutes early and drove this wonderful lady up the turnpike looking for the car. We finally saw it off the side of the road with the hazard lights on. Unfortunately it was on the opposite side of the road, which meant i had to drive to the next exit, pay the toll and turn around to get to the car. This whole time, the lady is telling me her life story, and about her husband who is in the hospital. We talked the whole way about different things, and we had a great time.
When we got to the car, I made sure it was only gas that was the problem, and waited for a tow truck to come. The driver told us that it would be a $100 charge to be towed to a gas station at the next exit. The lady unfortunately did not have any money on her, and didn't have enough to pay for some gas. I decided to give the tow truck driver my AAA card, which would cover being towed to the next exit. Luckily after hearing the story of how I helped this lady on my own time, the driver offered to accept the AAA card, and then tow the car to her house on his own dim.
This whole situation made me feel so good about myself and about other people. Knowing that there are people out there that are willing to help while expecting nothing in return is just a great feeling. I hope that if something like this happens to me, someone will be just as nice and help me out.
--Servant of the People
