A feel-good holiday story

Truckers are often villainized in the mainstream news (see my previous blog entry about a column in the St. Catharines Standard for a prime example), so it’s nice when I get a call about a trucker who went out of his or her way to lend a helping hand.
I received one such call this morning. A lady named Alice called from Scarborough to recount an incident that happened between Christmas and New Years Eve a year ago. When travelling to Orillia with her grandchildren, her car ran out of gas. The gas gauge indicated there was plenty of gas left, but it had become stuck, leaving her stranded and worried for the safety of her grandchildren and herself.
Along came a big Dodge diesel pickup truck and out hopped a friendly long-distance trucker to see if she needed help. When they determined the car had run out of gas, he drove the stranded motorists to the nearest gas station (which wasn’t very near at all, Alice says) and then drove them back and put the gas into the car for them.
Alice recalls he was very friendly and when she offered him some money for the gas, he refused to accept it, instead asking her to extend the same courtesy to someone else if the occasion should arise. Alice didn’t get the driver’s name or company he hauls for, but even a year later she remembers his kindness. This simple gesture on his part helped her realize truckers don’t all fall into the stereotype that many would have you believe.
Anyways, if you’re out there, and you know who you are, then Alice would like to extend a belated ‘Thanks.’