Letter to the Editor
To the Editor:
One of your Neighbors is a Hero
On Saturday, July 10, around 10 a.m. I stopped at Rife’s Stop and Shop to fill up my truck. I was returning to Des Moines, Iowa, after spending a week at Many Points Scout Camp. My truck was full of scouts and I was hauling a trailer full of gear.
After filling up with gas, suddenly my truck’s transmission would not allow me to switch gears (I was stuck in park). After several minutes, we decided to unhook the trailer and push it out of the way.
A few minutes later a car pulled up to get gas in the lane next to my truck.
A woman got out, and after looking at us told her ‘husband’, “It looks like these folks need some help.”
He called a friend and said, “Some folks need some help, bring some tools.”
He then walked around my truck, sat in the driver’s seat, moved the steering column, got out, and said, “I had a Ford and I think I know the problem.”
He asked me to sit in the truck with my foot firmly on the brake. He crawled under the truck and with his bare hand manually switched the gear into drive so I could drive the truck. He explained what he had done and showed us how to do this (if I turned off the truck, we would have to repeat the process).
I did not get our Good Samaritan’s name and he refused payment for helping us.
I wanted his neighbors to know what a selfless act of kindness this gentleman performed and how grateful we are.
The term Minnesota nice does not adequately describe this act of kindness.
To this stranger and his friend who came to help, we are so very grateful.
Carl Wiederaenders
Assistant Scoutmaster Troop 50
Des Moines, IA
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