Sometimes, you experience situations with people who seem to only be interested in themselves, and not in helping others. However, on occasion, you find people who want to do all they can to help others.

That became glaringly true for my family and I recently. We had the good fortune of having our oldest son/sibling graduate from college. It was a once in a lifetime experience that we looked forward to attending. The event was on a Friday morning at 10 am. As our youngest was nearing finals in middle school, we did not want to take him out of school too early on Thursday, so we waited until after school to leave to drive to Monticello, AR. It is just under a five hour drive, so we felt that we could be there before 8:00. That would have given us more than enough rest for the celebratory event the next morning. 

We left, and as usual, Shanna and I were enjoying podcasts (Check out our favorite when you have a chance: Stuff You Should Know…shameless plug haha) when we approached Indianola, MS. That’s when our car began to sputter and smoke. I am fairly familiar with cars, and I had never seen anything like it. Needless to say we made it to a Love’s Travel Store (another one of our favorites) when it all but shut down. I called roadside assistance, and due to the model of our car, the nearest dealership was approximately 100 miles away. Considering we would need to be at graduation on time, my top priory was getting it towed and finding a rental car. Easy enough right?!?!  Well, not at 8:00 at night in Indianola…the Mississippi Delta. 

After many calls, we found a tow truck that would take the car to Jackson, and this is where the goodness of people comes into place. Derek Byars who owns Endless Towing, went above and beyond to take care of us. As everything was closed, and the car rental location would not open until 8:00 the next morning, we were not going to make it to Monticello that night. Derek put the car on the tow truck, recommended a hotel in Greenville, which was where he drove from (about 35 miles), and took us to the hotel because there are no Uber/Lyfts in that part of the world. Taxis were nonexistent also. We would have been stuck if it had not been for him. I must say that his truck was very nice and very comfortable for a tow truck. Hehe

Once we got to the hotel and got settled around 11:00, we tried to get rest so that we could get to the graduation in time. The next morning I was downstairs and looking for a ride to the rental car location. Again, no taxis or other mode of transportation, and the rental car location was not answering the phones before opening. I had seen a gentleman and his wife at breakfast earlier, and after greeting each on a couple of visits to the buffet, I prayed about it, and I blindly asked for a ride after explaining the situation. He was there for his wife’s mother’s funeral, sadly enough, but they were very courteous. They got me there. Once there, the location representatives informed me that they had overbooked on cars (mad). Who does that?!?!!  After standing in line to get that news, it was 25 after the hour. The only other place in town that rented cars was the local Toyota dealership. I called, and the receptionist informed me that the two individuals who were responsible for doing rental paperwork were out. I hung up after this disappointing news, but after a little prayer, I decided to call back and tell them story of what was going on with my son’s graduation which was in less than an hour and a half, and it was an hour and ten-minute drive to his campus. The young lady reminded me that they couldn’t help because their representatives were out. I explained that I understood, and I made my way back to the car of the guy who I met at the hotel who had graciously insisted on waiting until I got a car. I had no idea what to do, and at that moment a phone call came from the dealership. The young lady had contacted the owner of Oakes Toyota in Greenville, Bryan Oakes, who had driven to the dealership to figure out a way to help me. Mr. Oakes did not hesitate, and he called one of his other employees in and had him collect my information. It was the most informal rental agreement I have ever signed.  Regardless, he made it happen. Unfortunately, it was now 9:15, and I still needed to go back to the hotel to pick up Shanna and Isaiah and all of our things. I did that and drove to Monticello in record time. We made it right after the graduates walked in and the National Anthem was sung. We made it, and we had a chance to watch Michael receive his bachelor’s degree. 

Throughout our version of “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles”, we met some folks who found ways not to help us. My faith was reaffirmed in people through the acts of those men who helped us to make it graduation in time. It reminded me of something that I have always tried to do which was be aware of opportunities to help others. We can find a million ways to say no. That’s the easy way out. Find a way to yes, and think of it as merely helping your fellow human being. You never know what bigger impact you will have on that individual’s life.  God bless.