I had gotten out of highschool and gone into construction. A year later I decided to go to a technical school and learn how to run the big mainframe computers. Personal computers were just being introduced at the time. Our instructor wanted us to wear suits to class so we did. It had snowed and dropped about 8 inches. The roads had just been plowed and the snow pushed to the shoulder. It was freezing cold out and I was driving home from class when the car over heated. I pulled onto the shoulder got out and raised the hood. The problem was evident immediately. The top radiator hose had a hole in it. Water and steam were spewing everywhere. This was back before cellphones. The closest pay phone was a mile away and like I said, it was freezing cold and I didn't have a winter coat. I was mentally prepping myself for the walk through the snow in my suit and dress shoes when this guy pulled over in front of me. He pulled out a roll of duct tape and taped the hose really well. He told me this wasn't a fix, but it would get me home or to a shop. Then he pulled out two new gallons of antifreeze and started putting them in the radiator. I reached into my pocket and felt the last two dollars I owned in the world. I so desperately wanted to tell the guy to stop. That I couldn't even afford to reimburse him for the antifreeze let alone pay him for the repair. I had never felt so low, bad and cold in my life. The guy finished and I offered him my two dollars apologizing saying it was all I had. He looked at me and said I didn't owe him anything. That if I wanted to pay him back that at sometime in the future someone else would need a helping hand. That when I helped them, at no charge, he would be paid back. There is not words to describe how good it felt to get back in the car, start it and turn that heat back on. I drove home. I was still living at home. My dad fixed the car that evening and life was good again. I have definitely repaid the guy a few times.
