Do We Leave Time to Help Strangers?

A few Canadians did…

“Nobody is stopping!”, I said to my husband as our family vehicle broke down in sweltering summer heat for what would become five long hours, on the side of Highway 60 up in the remote mountains of Ontario Provincial Park in Canada.

Our US phone service did not work in Canada. The few vehicles who flew by probably thought we simply stopped to look at wild moose. The diabled white truck and four people in it seemed transparent to the world, while I held on to my faith in people.

Keith the Park Ranger

After what seemed like a long time, Keith the park ranger, stopped and learned of our dire situation. Broken vehicle, campsite miles away, and no means to call. He felt guity because he ignored us the last time he drove through, thinking we were US tourists blocking a partial lane to admire wildlife. He offered water and promised to call about a tow truck. That was a huge relief. Before Keith the park ranger drove off, I requested if he would come back in a few hours to check on us, since we had no means to call on the tow truck status.

The Truck Driver

Another hour went by with no tow truck in sight, desperation grew slightly. A passenger car carrying a couple and their dog stopped to help. The man, (sorry I forget his name) a long haul truck driver on vacation, got out and helped direct traffic around our stalled vehicle and checked to see if he could help fix the vehicle. He explained the mountainous location did not have cell service for most Canadian phones either. He stayed with us for more than half an hour.

Jan the Pregnant Mom

Jan stopped and joined the truck driver gentleman to help. She offered to take two of our family members back to the campground, knowing there is no room to fit all of us in a tow truck. Best yet, she had accessible phone service, offering to make calls to the emergency dispatch to check if there was a tow truck dispatched. As I and my son got in her passenger car, I realized Jan the 7-month pregnant mom had her 19 month daughter in a car seat the entire time while mom was helping some stranded strangers. Jan drove us 20 miles to our campsite and back again to the rest of my family to help. Turned out she worked at the park service and it was her day off. I thanked Jan profusely. She replied with a smile “that’s quite all right. We are not in a hurry.” At that moment, I sure was glad she felt she was not in a hurry, like the truck driver man.

Don the local “Uber”

The tow truck showed up five hours after we were stranded. On the side of the road, five hours felt even longer. He had other calls to attend to and thought we would have been picked up by then. Since there was no way to contact us, he decided to “swing by” just to be sure we were not still stranded. Thank God he did. After our vehicle was towed to the garage in Whitney 30 miles away, Don the local driver-for-hire brought the rest of my family back to the campsite. He knew of our predicament that we had to pack up and vacate our campsite the next day, with no vehicle and no phone to contact the garage, Don offered to check on the status of our vehicle, in person, with the busy garage mechanic, Pete.

Miraculously, Pete the mechanic moved our vehicle ahead on his busy work queue and got the vehicle repaired the next day. We figured Don the drive-for-hire had something to do with the expediting.

There was a problem. How would we pack up and vacate our campsite for the next camper, by 2pm with no vehicle?

Phil the Young Park Warden

Phil, the shy, lanky 20-something park warden stopped by our campsite. We explained to him we will take down the camp, but had no vehicle to move. Phil offered to help us pack up and move all our belongings in the back of his truck. Together, we took down the tent, packed up the beddings, foods, cooking equipment etc and loaded onto Phil’s official pick-up ruck. He drove us and our belongings to the entrance of our campground, where we found a shaded spot under a tree. He proceeded to help unload onto the ground, chair-by-chair, box-by-box. I thanked Phil for his help. He even offered to take our last bag of trash to the trash center. Phil replied with a slight smile “that is quite all right, we are not in a hurry.”

Don the driver-for-hire showed up and picked up two of us to the garage to pick up the repaired vehicle. At 4pm, my family members drove up in our family vehicle. I got up and cheered!

A miserable experience was made beautiful by these total strangers because they were kind, and they were not in a hurry. Click To Tweet

The Grace of “Not in a Hurry”

We were sure glad the few Canadians felt they were not in a hurry. They all pitched in to help in the most perfect and organic way to help this stranded family from upstate New York. THANK YOU!

What could have been a miserable experience was made beautiful by these total strangers because they were kind, and they were not in a hurry. How many times have we felt we are being productive with a filled schedule on our Outlook calendar? Do you have a story when you spent a lot of time to help some strangers in need? Drop me a note below if you also, like us, been the recipient of similar kindness.

By the way, Keith the Park Ranger did stop by again that afternoon to check on us on Highway 60, and yes, he found that we were still stranded.