Murphy’s Law attacked me with its full force yesterday morning. Something bad happened, and then everything else went from bad to worse, until my mystery man proved me that the human heart still beats strong.
I got out of class earlier than usual, and I could not think of anything better to do than to go to Dick’s Sporting Goods to spend my spare time and dollars. I’m an avid surfer, a runner, a tennis player, and in addition, a die hard “Sunday Soccer Warrior.” Dick’s has always felt like paradise for me, until yesterday, when Murphy attacked me with its full force.
After spending my time and money ad Dick’s, it was time to get back to reality. I remembered my kid had a burrito party at school, and I had promised her to attend and bring munchies for the party. I walked into the parking lot, opened the door of my car on the right side, and as I placed my purchases on the seat, I felt my heart had stop. I couldn’t think, I couldn’t talk, and all I could see was my front tire completely flat, lifeless!!
In my thirty something years in this planet, I’ve never had a flat tire, never changed one, and never really had a plan in case that happened, after all, I have a husband who takes care of all those little things that women never really worry about ( okay, maybe not all women, just those like myself). Anyhow, as I tried to calm myself down, I realized my husband was in Vegas……And that I have no other family or relatives any closer than Texas. So I pulled my cell phone out, and as I opened it, I realized the battery was dead. Murphy had just hit me for the second time. So there I was, with my husband out of town, with no family, with no one but an eight year old kid waiting for me at her school, waiting for me to make her day.
I walked back into Dick’s seeking help, I told a customer service lady my story: my husband is out of town, my cell phone is dead, I don’t remember any of my friends phone numbers, (the phone numbers basically died with the phone)….I’m all alone, can you please help? The customer service lady handed me a piece of paper with a phone number????? I repeated the part she missed: My cell phone is dead!! She then let me used her phone.The phone number was for the St. John’s Town Center security department. I repeated my story to a security officer. Ten minutes later security arrived. I had officially defeated Murphy…or so I thought.
The nice young security guard provided me with a phone book??? He told me to call somebody to have it fix. I guess he too missed the part on which I told him my phone was dead. I thought he was there to help me, but no, he couldn’t help because of liability issues. I guess Murphy wasn’t done with me after all. At that point in time all I wanted to do was cry and go back to my country. I truly felt like an orphan. People walked by and looked, and kept walking as the security officer observed my fight with the wrench and tire bolts. I kicked, I pulled, I tried everything, but I knew deep inside my heart that it would take more than my frustration to loosen the bolts of my tire. I was about to give up, when this nice older man looked at me and ask if I needed help. I burst into tears. The nice man looked at the security officer and told him he got to be ashamed of himself. The officer then left. Within less than five minutes the nice man had replaced my tire, and restored my faith in the human heart.
The mystery man took no money, no reward, nothing I could offer. He was just happy to be able to help. He wasn’t the first person to help another, and he won’t be the last, and for all of those “mystery man,” out there, thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Thanks to people like my mystery man, women like me were able to attend their kid’s party at school, and arrive home safe.
As for me, I learned my lesson. I will never leave again with a drained cell phone, I will remember somebody’s phone number, I will learn how to change a tire, and I will buy roadside assistance.
As for my missing husband…I thank you for taking care of all those little things that women never really have to worry about. After all, it is the little things what makes the world so much special.
