In this tiny town, people genuinely care about each other,
whether they know one another or not. While this particular instance of receiving help stands out because it was
so dramatic, I have experienced it in so many different ways in the few
months I’ve been here!
S and I were driving a truckload of wood to the local
hardware store, returning extra plywood, 6x6 posts, 2x4 boards etc. that we
hadn’t needed for our building project.
The load was too long to fit in the bed of the truck, so the
tailgate was open and the wood was piled in. We had neglected to tie it down,
taking the advice that it wouldn’t be necessary to secure it since the weight
of the 6x6 posts would keep the load in the cab. The person who advised us not
to tie it down is generally knowledgeable about such matters and had just
single-handedly picked up and loaded posts too heavy for the two of us to lift
into the truck together. So we stapled the red flag to the end of the longest
board to warn other drivers, and headed out.
 |
| (Not our actual wood) |
As we pulled up to a stop sign on a very slight incline, we
heard a loud thump and the whole truck jumped a bit. Unsure what had happened,
we got out and saw all the wood lying on the asphalt.
 |
| (Not our actual helpers -it happened too fast for photo documentation!) |
Before we even had a
chance to react or to wonder how we would reload the truck with such heavy
materials, two people appeared out of the bushes in reflective gear.
Literally.
They walked out from between the shrubs, in their work
clothes and gloves, and started immediately reloading the wood into our truck cab!
As they were lifting the posts, we learned that they had
been in the truck directly in front of us, had heard the crash and immediately parked and got out to
see what had happened. After lifting all the lumber into the truck, they helped us tie it down - all in less than 5
minutes. We were back on the road before we had even
started to problem solve the mishap! I am so grateful for the interdependence of this place where people proactively stop to help each other (and are prepared with all the necessary gear need to do so)!
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