Good Samaritans in Unlikely Places ...

Every once in awhile, I'm privy to something that gives me faith in the goodness of humankind ... Tonight was one of those moments:

We were standing outside the coffee shop having a last chat before we all headed back to our respective homes for the night ... A truck pulled up and the driver asked where he could get gas.

It was closer to 12 midnight than it was closer to 11, so we all looked at our watches and said - "um, Neepawa may have something open ..."

"I'm on fumes," came the reply from the American couple who were heading home to OHIO !!!

We brainstormed, and then decided to try the local taxi service ... no response beyond the cell call, and a less than helpful: "call back in a couple hours ..."

One of the young women decided to call her dad. After waking him up and explaining the situation he told us to come out to his shop and grab a jerry can of gas for the wayward travellers. So, with a quick explanation to the travellers, we headed out to the shop and got a jerry can of gasoline, and came back to get them on their way ...

The story could have ended there with a few litres of fuel and best wishes to the couple as we sent them on their way. But a cell call to the gas station in Neepawa revealed the awful truth that it had JUST closed for the night ... "could you help these folks out?" came the question. Then with a description of the truck and an explanation of their predicament, the gas jockey agreed to stay till they got there. He would fill up their truck and send them on their way ...

So, we emptied the jerry can into the tank of the pick up truck, wished them well, and sent them off ... As they pulled away, they hung a right where they should have hung a left, so we even offered to guide them back out to the highway ...

It was, to quote Amanda: "Awesome !!!" And that's why we have "Friendly" Manitoba on our license plates ... tonight we showed a couple of travellers that for some of us, "Friendly" is a word that needs to be lived out from time to time !!!! And tonight we did.

So thanks to Jayme for thinking of calling her dad. Thanks to her dad for the gas. And thanks to Jodi and Amanda for helping getting all of this happening, and for making the call to keep the gas station in Neepawa open a few extra minutes ...

It was as Amanda says - "Awesome!!", and it is an example of how we can be friendly neighbours, even to strangers along the way ...

To Amanda, Jodi and Jayme: Thanks for reminding me that humanity is filled with goodness. Tonight, I'm honoured to call you friends.