But first, a PARAPROSDOKIAN —
Behind every great man is a woman – rolling her eyes.
Unplanned Kindness
Several years ago, we visited Chile. We stayed in Santiago and Vina del Mar for a couple of weeks, then headed south. We wanted to go as far as possible and still have roads back to Santiago.
The flight was in a small plane – one seat on each side of the aisle, maybe
a sixteen passenger capacity. It delivered newspapers to every small town along the way, so it was up and down continually. Two young girls sat across from my wife and me. They were moving to Puerto Montt. Their father was already there and would meet them at the airport.
On final approach, the older girl, probably twelve, got sick. As the wheels touched down, she threw up. In the terminal, my wife took her to the restroom to help her clean up. The younger girl found her father. I went to rent a car.
Unplanned best describes our mode of travel. We fly into a city, rent a car, then look for a place to stay. No reservations. Though a bit risky, it always works out and quite often provides more interesting adventures than if we had planned things carefully.
I found Earlene talking with the father. I said there was only one car available and they wanted $250 per day. I was hesitant. The girls’ father said, “If you can wait until tomorrow, I can get you a much less expensive car. Where are you going?”
I said we had planned on going to Puerto Varas (about twenty miles away), but we could certainly stay here tonight.
“I’m going to Puerto Varas. I can take you.”
As we drove toward Puerto Varas, he asked, “Where do you have reservations?”
“We don’t have a reservation, but I’m sure we can find something when we get there,” I said.
“I can help you.”
Thirty minutes later, we were at a lovely lakeside B & B.
“Do you have plans for dinner,” he asked.
“No,” I said. “We’ll walk into the village and find a restaurant.”
“We’re going to Llanguihue for dinner. Why don’t you join us? I can pick you up in forty minutes.”
An hour later we’re in a beautiful tourist village on the shore of a crystal clear lake. He invited us to join his extended family for dinner. We didn’t want to intrude, so we found a different table. After dinner, we told him we were in no rush whatsoever but would wait outside near his car.
“Nonsense. There are very interesting shops along the shore. Wander through them. I’ll find you.”
We did find the shops and the surrounding area interesting. About thirty minutes later, he appeared behind us. As we drove back to our B&B, he gave us many interesting facts about Chile. We felt very fortunate to have joined this man and his daughters.
The next morning, during breakfast, the B&B owner entered and handed me a telephone. Who would be calling me in Chile? The caller wanted to bring a car over for us for our inspection. It a very nice car and only $80 USD per day. We took it.
The father of the two girls went out of his way to be very friendly to a couple of foreigners he did not know. He could not have been more helpful if he had been a life-long friend.
Indeed, there are so many nice, kind, friendly people in the world, if only we are open to see them.
James R. Callan, 2016
Why not leave a comment and tell us about an Unplanned Kindness that happened to you. It will make all of us feel better. Thanks.
will ultimately save lives. For now, the efforts in this area are under close scrutiny. Last July, a driver using Tesla’s Autopilot service (not driverless, but driver assisted) was killed when the car collided with a tractor-trailer. The crash is still under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Google has seen a few minor accidents. At present, Google limits its cars to a maximum of 25 miles per hour. Uber has not sustained any accidents since road testing in Pittsburg began in May.
It’s not quite as methodical or orderly as a person might be, although this model is not just a random go, bump, try a different direction approach. So say the ads and directions. At times, it looks like an organized random method. So, I am drawn to watch it and see what it is doing. Is it more methodical or more random? Does it cover all areas. (Remember, we decided not to put down the sand.)
(or whatever bots do). Then survey the room again, stop and consider. After several of these, it decided to go left. That was okay, for the bathroom was to the left. It spent ten minutes in the bathroom, then came back to where it had done its contemplating before. And did some more.
Scientists, get busy. Authors have pointed the way. All you have to do is build it. Simple engineering. As the security lines at the airports get longer and longer, there will certainly be a market for a teleporter. We’re ready to say, “Beam me home, Scotty.”
