I saw an old guy pulled off the road last night with a dead battery. He had just put a brand new one in truck that morning after the other one had died the night before, so I tested the alternator and told him it wasn't charging.
Anyway, I gave him a hot shot, and told him to drive home fast because it wouldn't run long on the battery, and because it was dark, I told him if he used his lights, it would die faster, so he should take the well lit route to his house, which was only 4 blocks away. I followed him to make sure he made it, which he did, and when he shut the engine off, the battery was already too dead to turn it over again.
So, he thanked me and tried to give me 20 bucks, I mean, he insisted, but I told him he owed me nothing and refused the money. It only took ten minutes of my time and a bit of gas to run my engine while his battery charged. My reward was the satisfaction of helping someone out after hundreds of people just drove by while he stood on the side of thje road next to his broken down truck.
I also told him the problem (he obviously didn't know much at all about engines, alternators or batteries), so I probably also saved him from getting ripped off again by the ruthless auto mechanic who had just supposedly "fixed" the problem that morning. In fact, he told me who worked on the truck and I know the guy, as well as the fact that he's is a lying thief, and he rips people off at every opportunity.
Had he checked the alternator ( a very simple job that takes about 20 seconds), he could have solved the problem and saved the guy the cost of a new battery ( the mechanic kept the "bad" battery BTW, insisting it was no good, even though the guy had just bought it less than 4 months ago).
So, sometimes the giving is the reward in and of itself. Also, saving people from being robbed from someone they entrust to provide a service in exchange for hard earned money is always a good thing. I hate seeing people ripped off by mechanics, especially old people and women.  |