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........