A Funny Thing Happened to Sweetheart and Me Last Week

It wasn’t funny ha-ha, but more funny odd or unusual. Or, maybe, it is funny now that it is resolved.

You see, Sweetheart and I volunteered to take a friend to see someone at a nursing home that is located about 30 miles away from us. She doesn’t like to drive that far, but she doesn’t mind if I drive her car. And so, that is what I usually do when we go there.

All was going as planned. My friend got out of the car, got her walker and proceeded into the nursing home. Sweetheart and I proceeded into town, three miles away, to do a little shopping. We heard a ping from the direction of my friend as we pulled out and assumed she was getting a text message. When I shut the car motor off at the first store, I realized what the ping was for.

The car is one of those new-fangled ones that doesn’t need a key to start and stop. As long as the key is in the car, the driver only needs to push the ignition button to start and stop it. Once you have stopped the car, the key must be in the car in order to start it again. Trouble is, the key was in my friend’s purse, at the nursing home! We were stuck on a side street in the middle of town.

Sweetheart immediately decided that we should call AAA for help as soon as I had made my purchases at the first store. As we were standing on the street making our phone call, a woman crossed the street and walked past us. Sweetheart asked her for the name of the street we were on, so we could give directions to AAA, and he explained our dilemma.

The woman told us the name of the street and said we could come to the door of the non-profit where she worked, just up the street, if we needed water or restroom facilities.

We called AAA and learned that they would give us a tow, change a tire, or jump start the car, but they did not give rides. All we needed was a ride to the nursing home to get the key.

We went to the door of the non-profit and asked the woman if she could refer us to a taxi or Uber that could take us to the nursing home. She said she could not, but she could close up the shop and take us there. We were glad to take her up on her offer. We got the key, returned to the car and continued with our shopping plans.

The woman refused to take any money for her act of mercy, so we made a donation to the non-profit.

Now, isn’t that a ridiculous story? Or, is it a me-too story? Who hasn’t had a similar incident happen in his/her lifetime? It doesn’t matter what gender, what race, what line of work, what age, or whether a person is liberal or conservative, dumb things happen.

I just like to put a positive spin on a negative incident and help restore people’s faith in humanity. There are still people out there who want to help, rather than hinder, in a world that is full of chaos and violence.

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Dorothy is the author of two books—“Miles and Miracles” and “Getting It All Together “. You can purchase a book or send a comment by emailing her at dorothybutzknight@gmail.com