A Flat Tire

It's a clear and cold winter morning. The sun is peeking through the trees, the hens are huddled under the shop, and wood shop kitty is still out on her evening jaunts.

Tuesday was one of those days we set aside for a trip to town for shopping and other things, as it's 25 miles each way we try to minimize the number of trips and maximize what we accomplish. Yesterday it was to get Catherine a haircut, get our driver's licenses, check out a second hand store, buy groceries, take some things to a friend of Catherine, and go to the Eugene Zendo for an evening program. All went well until we were on our way to Martha, Catherine's friend. We ended up on a street that didn't go anywhere and I made a last minute turn, but too soon and over the curb we went. I said "that's how you can mess up a tire." Catherine said "well, everything seems fine." A block later it was apparent that things weren't so fine and sure enough the right front tire was going down. Catherine's prepaid cell phone and AAA came to the rescue (it was dark and I didn't feel like changing a tire in the dark and I thought the spare may not be fully inflated). A cheerful fellow later pulled up in his truck, got the spare up to pressure and had us in business. We then got to Martha's and gave her her things and realized it was too late to get to the zendo and we still hadn't eaten. I was also concerned about the 25 mile trip back home and another long trip to get a new tire. Martha mentioned that there was a Les Schwab not far from her. We drove off and pulled in to Les Scwab, but the doors were locked and the sign said they closed at 6. There were, however, the folks who worked there finishing things up from the day. One of them poked her head out the door and we told her our predicament. Their response was pure zen practice: say yes and step forward. Before we knew it we had a replacemnent tire and were on our way.

So here we had an experience that seemed bad, had messed up our plans, and was simply one I did not like. But this experience led us into receiving the warm generosity of these people. Yes, they get paid to do it, but the AAA fellow didn't have to be so warm and friendly and the Les Schwab folks didn't have to open their doors and none of them had to do it with such generous spirits. So much for cynicism. Both Catherine and I pulled into a Pizza Hut, had a pizza, and felt so good the way this all turned out. It was worth a flat tire to have had this experience of other people.