Random Act of Kindness Received!
Posted by Qrystal on August 2, 2008 at 22:34.
Category: Life. Tags: .
So, I got a flat tire on my bike today. Really flat, not one of those slow leaks that you can deal with just by filling the tire with air every day or so. No, when I filled this tire, it was totally flat again in just 10 minutes.
Naturally, I was not near an air pump when the tire was flapping empty again, so I had to walk it. I was about a half hour walk from home, which wasn’t unreasonable.
In this time, I was thinking about how I could avoid such situations in the future. I’ve been wanting to put together a toolkit of useful things to keep with my bike, especially if I plan on doing longer treks in the future. If I’d only have thought to bring an air pump…
As I was passing an apartment building, a guy called out, “Hey, d’ya need a pump?” I looked, and the man was sitting on his first-floor balcony. He reached over to a pile of stuff he had there, and pulled out a hand-held bicycle pump! “It’s an old one, but it seems to work. I found it, over there,” he said, vaguely gesturing up the street.
I thanked him, and walked my bike to lean it against the edge of the building. Gratefully accepting the pump, I pumped it, and was amazed at how smooth it seemed, despite the fact that the wooden tube looked well-aged.
The guy then went on to say, “Actually, you can keep the pump: I don’t even have a bike!” My jaw could’ve dropped open at this point, I’m not entirely sure. I was busy connecting it to the valve to see if it was going to actually work…
It worked like a charm! The end screwed on snugly, and in a few minutes I was able to build up enough pressure in the tire that I was sure I could bike home. I thanked him again, and waved, full of good feelings about how humans can still be good to each other once in awhile.