by Russ Mulcahy
Florida, USA
In late fall of 2002, I worked for a few weeks renovating our whole house inside. One weekend in October, I was working on getting the bathroom ready to install tile. As I put up the permaboard, I realized I was a sheet short and would need to purchase another one.
My wife, son, and I got into our truck and headed for the store. When we arrived at the building department, I explained to a salesperson that I needed one sheet of permaboard cut to size. I told him that when I had taken the original three pieces home, I had also purchased eight two-by-fours. Because permaboard is very stiff, I had used the two-by-fours to support the permaboard so it wouldn’t crack into pieces hanging out of my truck on the way home.
The salesperson said that they didn’t cut permaboard. My wife and I asked to talk to the manager, as we had no other way to get this board home but to use our truck. While we waited, my five-year-old son needed to use the restroom. I left my wife with the measurements for the cuts and went off to find the restroom. When I returned, my wife said that the manager had replied that he would not cut the board, either.
However, while my wife was waiting for my son and I, she had struck up a conversation with a couple waiting in line to pay for their purchase. The husband offered to cut the board for me if I brought it to his house. I explained that I could cut the board at home; the problem was I could not fit the board in my truck without a good portion of it hanging out. With the board partly out of the truck, it would crack from bouncing on the way home and be of no use.
The husband offered to put the board in his truck, which was larger than mine and would carry it safely.
So I helped him load everything into his truck. Then he followed me to my house and helped me carry the board into my garage. I offered him $10.00 for his trouble a few times, but each time he declined it, saying that this was his good deed for the week.
In dealing with people who don’t care — which seems to be much too frequently these days — we forget that there are still kind people willing to go out of their way to help a stranger. I am grateful to this man who was so willing to help us for no other reason than to do the neighborly thing.
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