Saturday, October 10, 2009

Pay it Forward.

Today I went out with a couple of friends, and my car was towed. We were downtown, with no way of getting anywhere, and no money.

I
was freaking out when a man walked up to the three of us and asked what happened. My friend Josh told him my car was towed, and he asked me how much it cost to retrieve it. I told him.
He asked Josh to come with him, and said he'd be back in a minute.

I had meanwhile progressed to the crying stage of shock when you come back to the parking lot and your car is gone, and was trying not to hyperventilate while Lin tried to calm me down.

Josh came back with the man, who handed me a wad of twenties.

"Get your car back, it'll be okay," he said. "My name is Mitch Sweeney- you guys have a good night."

And then he walked off.

I managed to choke out a "Thank you so much" as he was leaving. I counted the twenties. He'd given me $200. I looked up at Josh. "Why did he give me this?"

"I don't know. He wanted to help you. He just walked up to the ATM and withdrew $200," Josh said. "Whatever that guy does for a living- I want to do it."

We called a friend of mine to pick us up and take us to the towing lot. I got my car back.

I won't ever see Mitch Sweeney again, and he never even asked my name. I have no way of paying him back except to someday find a stranger I can do a lifesaving favor for. But his random act of kindness will not be forgotten.

Faith in humanity? Yeah. I've got some.

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