At my Thanksgiving table this year, we’ll avoid politics. I’ll ask that each guest tell of a random act of kindness we received from a stranger.

I’ll set the stage by recounting this experience: In 1995, I had moved to Phoenix and needed cheap wheels, so I bought a used Ford Escort from a rental car company with 50,000 miles on it.

One day, I was sailing southbound on busy Priest Drive in Tempe when my car stopped dead with no warning. In that day before cellphones, I felt confused, fearful and stranded.

Suddenly, who appeared at my car window but the driver of an 18-wheeler for a major grocery chain who had been traveling behind me.

“I can push you onto a quiet side street,” he offered.

He gently touched his big cab to the back of my vehicle, checked that no cars were speeding up behind us, and pushed me onto a nearby side street. Back in his cab, he used whatever communication device........

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