Thor's Day: Passing it on

What goes around comes around: A fable

By Anonymous

Edited by Morris Dean

[Submitted by a correspondent who was unable to identify the author.]

Driving down a dimly lit road one evening, a man saw an old lady stranded on the side of the road. Even in the dim light he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her.
    Even though the man had a smile on his face, the woman was worried. She had been there for over an hour, and no one had stopped until now. Was he going to hurt her? He didn't look safe; he looked poor and hungry.
    He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill that only fear can give you.
    He said, "I'm here to help you, ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car where it's warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson."
    Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. He was finally able to change the tire, but he got dirty and hurt his hands.
    As he was tightening up the lug nuts, the old lady rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just passing through. She couldn't thank him enough for coming to her aid.
    Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk.
    The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped.
    Bryan never thought twice about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and there were plenty who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.
    He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed. Bryan smiled and added, "And think of me."
    He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight.

A few miles down the road, the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy-looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her.
    The waitress came over, bringing a clean towel for the woman to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her feet all day hadn't erased.
    The lady noticed that the waitress seemed seven or eight months pregnant but wasn't letting the strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger.
    Then she remembered Bryan.
    After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a hundred dollar bill.
    The waitress went to get change for the big bill, but the old lady quickly slipped out the door and was gone by the time the waitress came back.
    The waitress wondered where the lady could be. Then she noticed something written on the napkin.
    Tears came to her eyes when she read what the lady had written: "You don't owe me anything. I have been there too. Somebody once helped me out, the way I'm helping you. If you really want to pay me back, just pass it on and help the next person."
    Under the napkin were four more $100 bills.

Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through the rest of the day. When she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. How could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard....
    She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, "Everything's going to be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson."

Copyright © 2015 by Morris Dean