The unsung hero

Last weekend my dear friend Anna and I were taking a road trip to Newport. Our birthdays fall within a few weeks of each other, so we decided to set some time aside from our busy schedules and have a righteous lady day driving from New Haven, CT to Newport, RI.

When we were about twenty minutes from Newport, a man driving behind us started beeping and flashing his lights. You hear all sorts of things about not pulling over lest the guy flagging you down is some Ted Bundy-esque serial killer, but it was broad daylight and we were surrounded by cars at a busy intersection, so we decided to take our chances with the potential serial killer.

He was wearing a shirt from some tire shop and looked genuinely frightened as he told us that our rear left tire was wobbling so much that it looked like it was about to fall off. Meh. We assumed that he was either trying to A- con us into spending money down at his tire shop or B- lure us out of the car so that he could dismember us. We treated him coolly, thanked him, rolled up the window and went on our merry way. Then Anna had the thought to check out the tire in her rearview mirror. Yup, even though we hadn’t felt anything, it was wobbling. A lot.

And so began a four-hour escapade into finding a gas station where someone would check the tire for us (it was 5 pm on a Saturday, not great timing for finding a mechanic), discovering that it wasn’t the tire but the axle that was busted, waiting for AAA to come with a tow truck by enjoying heinous and cheap Sake at the “Chinese Sushi Restaurant” next door, and then getting towed back the nearly two hours to New Haven.

It was a lame let down of a road trip, but we made the best of it and ran into so many great people who helped us out and who we were able to thank profusely. We got to thank Eli, the guy manning the gas station who checked the tire for us, Diane, the woman who was on her way to meet up with her hubby to celebrate their anniversary at the casino, but nevertheless took the time to lend us her tools for changing a tire when we discovered ours were missing, the staff at the restaurant who kept the cheap Sake flowing, and Joe our tow truck driver who was gratefully as un-creepy as possible considering we didn’t know who we were going to have to spend two hours with in a the small space of a tow truck’s cab.

We got to thank everyone but the guy who literally saved our bacon. I don’t know if you’ve ever been in a car when the axle has broken, but judging from the sheer terror in the voice of our AAA dispatch (he was a bit of a drama queen), we were lucky the man who came to be affectionately called “Tire Guy” had flagged us down. And yet we couldn’t thank Tire Guy- he was the MVP and the unsung hero of the whole debacle.

Sure, in this situation I can’t do anything to track this guy down, but there are all sorts of unsung heroes in the world. The people who are doing amazing things with little to no acknowledgement. As we were lamenting not being able to thank Tire Guy, I was thinking about how The 11 Project is all about finding everyday heroes. Sure, some of the people we talk to are known and have achieved something that is giving them some amount of accolade and attention. But there are so many fantastic people hiding out in the nooks and crannies of all of our lives. The teacher who cared about you when you were going through a really tough time. The family member who inspired you to follow your calling. The doctor who took the time to really see you and treat you as a person. Who are the unsung heroes that you know? Who could use a little recognition for their goodness? Maybe we need to interview them and get their story told. Tell me who needs a little spotlight in the comments:

Photo by erix!