A man, a child’s bike, and a flat car tire at 6:30 AM. Welcome to Monday.
You would not have believed it.
A rather large, muscular man rode up to the shop on a child’s bicycle the first thing Monday morning.
The man was far too large for that little bike. But when you added to the scene the automobile tire and wheel: WOW. His knees pushed out to avoid the handlebars of the bike that was just too small for him. Sweat pouring down his face at 7:00 AM. This is a great way to start the week. Must be Monday. The man had gone out to his car at 6:30 AM to find a flat tire. His spare was no good, so now he would be late for work. Being resourceful, he removes the wheel from the car, borrows his son’s bike, and loads himself and the wheel onto the bike. He then rides the bike, with the wheel balanced carefully on the handle bars, all the way to our shop. You just have to give him serious credit for having a “can do” attitude.
We bring him into the shop and offer him some cold water. The tire has a puncture that is repairable, so we perform a repair on the tire, balance it on the rim, and advise him that there will be no charge for the tire repair. He thanks us and prepares to get back on the undersized bike with the repaired tire. Um… no. We will give you a ride, along with your son’s bike and your repaired tire.
He looks up from the small bike in amazement. “You will give me a ride?” We are the ones that are amazed.
“Yes, we will give you a ride. And next time, just give us a call. We will come pick you up as well.”
The man, the bike, and the tire were returned to his home by car, and he was on his way again. Sometimes the most impressive things come from the most annoying circumstances. You learn a great deal about a person in how they handle adversity. That guy just handled it in stride. What a pleasure to help someone like that. A bad Monday morning turned into something else: the opportunity to be completely impressed by someone who handled a serious annoyance with absolute grace, dignity and patience.
Impressive.
