It started as I drove past a well used mini van with a flat tire on my way home from work. I noticed a woman sitting in the drivers seat talking on her cell phone. I was in a dress and heels and not really set up to help but as I drove past in rush hour traffic I realized that hundreds of people had driven right by and not stopped. So even though I was a mile or 2 past her by the time I came to my senses I took the next exit, flipped around and took the road back on the other side. I pulled over, hopped a medium (in a dress..) and offered to help. She had a tire but no jack and was waiting for a friend to bring her one. It would have been a while with the heavy traffic so I offered her my jack and help. We worked together to try to get the car lifted. As we struggled a lovely gentleman and his son stopped to offer more experienced help and in no time we were all back on the road.
I made a commitment that day to pull over whenever I saw a woman, elderly person or family with kids broken down on the side of the road. Since that first day I have stopped 2 more times.
Second stop was for a woman whose car broke down, 2 lanes in, from the side of a 4 lane highway. Traffic was barely moving behind her so I stopped and my daughter and I got out to get her car pushed to the side (this time in flip flops...) My teen daughter (bless her heart) directed traffic and I started to push the car. Once again after I had stopped - 3 other people pulled over to help. We worked as a team and got her to safety and opened up traffic for all the DC / Baltimore commuters.
Third time I pulled over for a family of 8 (all smushed into a sedan) that was broken down on the side of the highway with a flat tire. They did not have a spare but I had an air pump in my car so I offered it to them to see if the tire would pump up. While we waited I realized that the 5 kids kids (15,16,7,5 and a 1 year old) were probably running late for school and would be safer at home. I offered to drive them and one of the ladies to school and home. As we piled into my car a police officer stopped to help the other 2 adults in case my pump was not enough to get them moving. Sometimes it just take someone to start a good deed and people will join. So start a good deed! #actsofkindness