Remember 'Pay it Forward?'

I turned the key in my ignition, and instead of the familiar sound of my engine there was just a pathetic little groan. I’ve lived long enough to know the sound of a dead battery and the heart-sinking feeling that goes with it. I was 10 miles from home on a Sunday and without my cell phone.

I had such a fun day planned – out doing research for my chocolate malt column, and I was just getting started. As I sadly slid out of my car to go find a phone, a black mustang pulled in and parked. A young guy jumped out and I ran up to him before he could even close his door and asked, “Do you by any chance have jumper cables?” A broad smile crossed his face and he said, “Sure.” Out came the longest most nuclear-powered set of cables I had even seen. With great expertise he connected them to his battery and something under my hood. I don’t know what you call it, but my battery is under the rear seat. This guy obviously knew what he was doing.

“We’d better give it some time to charge.” He told me, and we began to talk. Turns out he was just on his way to order a pizza and assured me he was in no hurry at all. I told him about my malt research and I learned that he was an Iraq veteran with a closed head injury among other things as the result of a roadside bomb. This young, adorable guy had been through hell, but you’d never know it to look at him or to see the positive energy that he exuded.

After a few minutes we tried my ignition, and it started right up. I was cautioned to go straight to the battery store with no stops in between. It felt good to be so cared for by this stranger. We gave each other a hug, and he said he had something for me as he opened his trunk. Out came a second set of jumper cables that he had never used. “I’d just feel better if you kept these with you.” He said. “”You just never know…..”

We talked about how good it feels to help someone in need, and I assured him that I would pay it forward. If you’ve never seen the 2000 movie with Kevin Spaeey, Helen Hunt and Haley Joel Osment, get it from Netflix, or better yet, buy it. It is one of those movies that stays with you forever.

Osment plays an 11-year-old boy who comes up with the concept of making the world a better place by doing a kindness for someone and asking that in return, they do a kindness for someone else – hence, the “pay it forward.” Spacey, his social studies teacher remarks that this is an extreme act of faith in the goodness of people.

Have you ever noticed that often when you do something kind for someone – like an unexpected gift, they will say, “You didn’t have to do this.”  I’ve always wondered why we use that phrase. Of course no one has to do anything nice for anyone. Thankfully, my mother always taught us to be gracious receivers of gifts and kindnesses.

My story could end here, but it has a much more interesting conclusion. Three days after my battery incident, I was working at my day job when the driver of an airport van came rushing in wild eyed, and frantically asked if I knew anyone who had jumper cables. I calmly reached into my purse and pulled out my keys and handed them to him. “There’s a set on my front seat.” I said, as I pointed out the window to my car which was only about 50 feet away. He couldn’t believe it. I wish I could describe the look on his face.

About 10 minutes later, he came in and handed me my keys and said, “That was a miracle!” I couldn’t imagine anyone in here would have cables.” “You really saved my life!” “Thanks, I’ve got to run.”

I’ve lived a fairly long life, and I don’t remember anyone ever asking me for jumper cables before that day. As I’ve said before in this space, miracles come in all shapes and sizes, and there are exponentially more good people in the world than there are nasty ones. I’m reminded of a Sanskrit greeting I learned many years ago in a yoga class. The greeting is Namaste, and is used widely in India. When loosely translated, it means, “the good in me recognizes the good in you.”

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