After about 10 mins of opening the car hood, I realize that we will need a replacement. So I call the Alamo roadside assistance, and am talking to Dan, explaining him the situation we are in. Meanwhile, a truck pulls in front of us. An old man in his early 70s steps out, and asks "You need help?"
He looked at the engine and said "Oh this looks bad. You guys need a ride to city?" And on call Dan tells me that since it's day after holiday, he was skeptical if he could find a tow truck to get there in time, also the nearest rental center was 95 miles away from our location. So he insisted that we find local help, get a tow truck assistance and get to an auto repair station, get the car inspected and then give a call back to them, so they can help us further.
Norm hangs around, and gives a local auto center person's number. I call him but, they don't have any tow truck available. Norm looks at the car and says "Back in our days, we could find and fix things so easily. Now they have made everything so complicated, and just so many wires that you can no longer understand the car's system".
I think to myself - Well, it's true, not just for cars but also for our lives.
A beautiful healthy dog with pitch black shiny hair was getting restless in the truck. Norm introduces her as Jack. And oh, her enthusiasm lights me up.
We find a local tow truck company, and Norm takes the phone and says "Hey Ashley, it's me, Norm. Help these kids, they have been stuck for a while." and hands the cellphone back to me.
I have been in USA for almost a decade, and one thing I would miss here what I had in my hometown was how the entire town knew each other. And either I had always stayed in big cities or all my trips in USA have been to either cities or drive through the small towns, I never came across similar environment here. For the first time in so many years, I felt I was in my hometown. Norm knows everyone around, he talks to the tow service lady and flashes the local card. It was so much like my hometown where everyone knows everyone around. People would always take time out of their busy schedule to stop and help others. This place felt like home for the first time.
I tell her we are 4 of us, so we will need a some sort of ride to the city. She assures me that one of their tow truck can accommodate 5 passengers, so we should be good.
Now we had to wait for another 45 mins to an hour, for the tow truck person to reach us. So I start chatting with Norm. Norm says he was a landscape photographer by profession. He sells his photographs to the local stores. He pulled out a box full of photos from his truck and we see all his pictures. I play with Jack, she is so restless to get out of the truck and play with us. Norm and Jack were with us for almost an hour.
Norm asked if we wanted him to wait or if we needed any ride. I assured him that we were fine, the tow truck would arrive anytime now, so we should be good. We all thank him for sticking around, and giving us support.
He asks me to pick one of his pictures, says he wants me to have one. Since we were headed to Zion National Park, I pick a photo of waterfalls from Zion park that dates back to March 2005, here it is.
This blog is dedicated to Norm, who reminded me of my Dad that day; and Jack who reminded me of Johnny (my dog back home); both of whom are no longer in this world, but whose memories are always fresh in my mind.
Norm made me believe that a small town is same every where in this world, people are closely knit, they always have time to stop and look, they not only trust other humans but also force others to trust them without any effort. They reinforce the belief that life is really simple and we should keep it that way.
-Dated 16th December 2017
(Met Norm & Jack on 24th November 2017 in Bryce.)
Comments
Post a Comment