This morning I had to take Bill to the Jacksonville
airport. He is headed for Colorado for
some meetings and some skiing. On the
way back to Amelia Island, I was traveling in steady traffic on A1A, and I came
upon an interesting sight.
An elderly man in a white shirt and dress pants was pushing
an antique car. I am not an expert on
classic cars and have no idea what it was, but it was definitely pre-1940s, and
had been beautifully restored. However,
something was obviously wrong with the mechanical components, and the car had apparently
ceased to function on the busy road. A
woman, probably the man’s wife, was in the driver’s seat steering, and the
senior citizen, dressed as though he was on his way to church, was pushing the
car to try to get it on the side street.
The light at the intersection was red, so I had to stop, and
this gave me the opportunity to watch the situation evolve. Along came a pick-up truck. The occupants quickly sized up the situation,
pulled over and put the hazard lights on.
Two young men jumped out and literally ran toward the crippled
vehicle. Both men were tall and
well-built. Either they do manual labor
or they spend time in the gym. They
quickly began to help push the old car.
They had no sooner arrived on the scene, when a sheriff’s
car turned off A1A and pulled up behind them.
The officer put on his flashing lights and traveled slowly behind them,
warning approaching vehicles and providing them with protection.
The light turned green and I had to move on, but I kept
thinking about this. There are a lot of
nasty awful mean people in this world, but there are also some kind-hearted
helpful ones. What a wonderful example
those two men were setting for a young boy.
I have encountered young men who don’t seem to understand what being a
man is all about. They get some
perverted notion that it is all about sexual prowess. But what that young boy was seeing was an
example of real masculinity. Men who are
willing to jump out of their vehicle, and put their time and energy into
helping someone in need.
What a better world we would live in if everyone got out and
pushed.