Picking Up Strangers

I was awoken around 6 AM by the sound of a text message on my phone; it was my son telling me to be careful because everything was covered in a thin sheet of ice, including the back walkway. The dogs were already stirring, so I had no choice but to get up and take them outside. Walking down the third flight of stairs to the back door, I opened it to the darkness and the sound of freezing rain outside. As the dogs ran between my legs, I gingerly stepped over the back door mat, which usually soaks my bedroom slippers. Stepping over the mat I watched my 5 month old Boxer pup slide off the end of the walk into the muddy grass, as I did a half split on the ice myself upon planting my foot. What a nasty morning. The dogs finished quickly and we retreated back inside for dog treats, cereal, and a cup of java. My morning was all laid out; a bit of reading before 8 AM, a quick trip to the post office to mail some books, the bank, back home to can some excess deer meat for storage, and await the Steelers playoff game later. And yes, I’ve said my piece about professional sports and how it’s rigged, I simply don’t take to the social media sites with my on and off fan status any longer. I was pretty excited about the game though, and canning all afternoon. Lately I’ve been in dire need of different techniques to ground myself in this mundane world, one hobby being canning. I finished Adrian Cole’s “The Lucifer Experiment”, and discovered, much to my surprise, how well the story aligned with so many occult thoughts and ideas in my life at this moment. A mad scientist creates a machine, named LUCIFER that has the ability to read a subjects dreams and memories. The machine also allows numerous subjects to engage one another in a dream like landscape. The machine can also dredge up old skeletons, memories, and even nightmares. The unknown, the void, and references to an abyss were prevalent throughout the book. Using multiple subjects, Orwell (the mad man) was bent on establishing contact with “The Mind” of the universe, using the minds of the unknowing subjects to tap the knowledge of the universe; to become like God. Upon finishing the book, the Mind revealed It’s self as an indifferent force in the universe, and not an evil unknown as the subjects and hero had presumed. I was pleased to see it aligned with many of my recent thoughts, and even my book. Dressing and heading out the door for my errands, I gingerly maneuvered the icy sidewalk around the house to the truck, which itself had become encased in a cocoon of ice in the chilling rain. Allowing the heat to melt the ice on the windshield for a few minutes, I put the vehicle into 4 wheel drive, backed out, and headed up the street. Finding a few “slippy” spots (as Pittsburghers will say) along the neighborhood road, I made it to the stop sign at the top of the hill with ease. I would later hear that my neighbor was called to go into work but couldn’t make the hill and had to stay home. Thanks the gods for 4 wheel drive. Looking right I could see a few cars moving at a snail’s pace down the hill a few blocks away; the roads were really slick. With confidence in four new tires and all wheel drive I eased onto 885 and proceed into town. The two lane road wasn’t bad until I got to the entrance to the local junior college. Here, the road opens up into four lanes and I could see the evidence of churned up ice on the road from vehicles making turns at the red light; like slush rutted up in the middle of the lanes. The light turned red and I cautiously slowed to a stop, gazing at the next hill ahead of me as I waited on the light. The light turned green and I gently took off to ascend the next hill when I noticed two people walking toward me on the side of the road. Moving around 35 or 40 MPH, I moved far over into the center turn lane and slowed a bit in hopes I wouldn’t splash or spray them with my icy wash as I passed. The couple were bundled up and walking slowly back down the icy road toward the junior college, and they were wearing hospital scrubs, their thin jackets over their heads to shield their faces from the icy rain. “Certainly there can’t be any school today” I thought, assuming they might be students. And the hospital was near my house, yet another two miles up the road. They would certainly be frozen by the time they would have gotten there. I never pick up strangers anymore, and it had been a long time since I had. I had tried once to save a young girl stranded in the middle of the highway in my hometown, Plant City, Florida, as she walked down the middle of Interstate 4 with a horrific lightning storm quickly approaching. My daughter was with me so I knew I wouldn’t seem like a serial killer trying to pick up this young lady. She seemed no older than my daughter. I stopped, and began backing against the traffic to get her before the storm hit. She noticed me coming at her in reverse and quickly began running the opposite way, retreating to her broken vehicle. That was perhaps 6 or 7 years ago, and I hadn’t entertained the thought since. Passing the couple in the icy rain, something tugged at me and I slowed before the next light. “A ride to the college campus is only 10 minutes out of my morning” I thought, and it was indeed freezing outside. I quickly turned around in the road and head back to get them. Slowing in the middle lane and rolling my window down, I caught their sudden and surprised attention. “You guys need a ride?” I asked. “Oh my God would you?” the young girl said with a delighted expression. “WE just need to get to the college and to the bus stop. “Hop in I’ll take you down, it’s too cold to be out here walking around” She walked quickly walked across the road as her huge African friend followed. They climbed in, both giving a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Thank you! We just need to get to the bus stop. My friend here, Vince, got his car stuck on the ice and we had to leave it at a friend’s house” “You guys have school today?” I asked. “Oh no, we just left the hospital to go home, we work nights” she explained. “Then why go back to the college?” “That the closest bus stop; we can get a ride to Glassport from there.” “Oh, OK” I agreed, as we turned into the college. The road was much icier than the main road because of the lack of traffic. We rounded the bend and found the massive CCAC campus devoid of any life. Not a soul in sight and no buses either. Pulling up to the bus stop, and seeing a small building there to shield them from the rain, I felt better knowing I had gotten them this far. “When will your bus come?” I inquired. “Well, I’m not sure, we’ll have to wait on it I’m afraid. The last one was a few hours ago.” Feeling my heart sink, I couldn’t help but want to take them straight home; but I have also screwed myself by putting myself in such awkward positions. Just part of the lessons in life I had learned the hard way from simply being “too nice”. “Well, I have to run to the post office and bank. It may take thirty minutes or so, but I’ll run back by here on my way home. If your still here I’ll take you guys to home to Glassport.” I reassure them as they opened the doors and got out. “Thank You!” she said genuinely. “Yes, Thank you Sir” Vince said for the first time. They sat down on the bench in the overhang and I made my way back up the icy hill to the main road. As I rounded the corner there sat a metro bus, which had just turned into the college entrance and had done a u-turn. Sitting idly, the driver fumbling with his phone, I stopped and traversed the icy pavement to tell him about the kids I had just dropped off. “Hey there” he said politely. “ ‘Morning, I’m really glad to see you. I just dropped two kids off down the hill in front of the campus; they’re hoping to get a bus to Glassport. Any chance you’re going down there?” I asked with hopeful intent. His bright expression and inquisitive smile turned to a slight frown. “Sorry sir, I can’t. They just mad a public announcement on the radio about the roads. Local officials are telling everyone to stay home and they have cancelled some bus routes until later.” This explained the almost “ghost town” appearance of the neighborhood. Pittsburghers are pretty weather savvy, and are always prepared for the worst winter weather. It’s much easier to simply stay home, and they do. “I appreciate it bud, be safe then. Have a good day. Happy New Year” I said as I walked back to my XT. I did a u-turn over the divider strip at the red light and proceeded back down the hill to retrieve the two kids again. I pulled up to the bus stop, and they were gone. Then, I saw them huddled under an overhang much closer to the main entrance. Seeing me, they gingerly walked back up the icy walkway to the truck, holding each others arm to keep balance on the ice. “The bus isn’t coming guys” I said as I rolled the window down. “He’s sitting up at the light but won’t come down here. Looks like you’d be stuck here a while.” Climbing back in with a much more relieve expression on their faces, we headed back up the icy hill for the trek across the river, and over to Glassport; a mere 4 or five miles. We chatted and introduced ourselves properly (and even now I can’t remember the girl’s name. Vince was easy though; a rather large and built African young man, like a line backer). Crossing the slushy bridge over the Monongahela from Clariton, and turning left to Glassport, I dropped them off at two different intersections in town just blocks away. They both offered money and I refused; yet I saw the opportunity for a shameless book plug. “You wanna pay me back, just buy my book. It’s on Amazon” I said with a grin. “You’ll know it when you see it.” They had been eyeballing the pentagrams on my hands the entire ride, especially Vince. “Absolutley! We’ll check it out. There simply aren’t enough people like you in this world any more” they said as they each exited the truck. Feeling happy and relieved they were home safe, I made my way back over the Dravosburg Bridge to continue my errands. A long story I know. I had decided against sharing it because I felt a slight bit of guilt for doing so, as If I were patting myself on the back for some self serving purpose. This all happened Saturday morning, and I am just now writing it down a day later. Yet somehow there is a message in the story that begs to be told, even as I have become disenchanted and aggravated with the endless “look at me, look at me”, nosy, or competitive posts on Facebook. It has become a cancer and normal way of life for many. While I have cut my interaction back significantly, I have been guilty for my posts and rants none the less. Having finished my book which deals heavily in facing fears of the unknown and self transformation, and finishing “The Lucifer Experiment”, themes and ideas of how our choices affect the lives of others have been flowing through my mind in recent weeks. Theories and thoughts of how simple acts of kindness or hate constantly steer our paths and the paths of others in different directions; how we directly impact the lives of others and ourselves directly through daily thoughts, actions, and even words. I often think of the girl I tried to pick up that day in the middle of the interstate, as she ran the opposite direction. I could have persisted to gain her attention but simply felt that if she were that scared there was no use in trying. I will never know if she made it home safely. The same has happened with numerous occasions and people over the years. I still often wonder how their courses, as well as mine may have been altered for better of worse. The same for the two I picked up yesterday in the freezing rain. It’s not often in this day and age the circumstances allow for such a kind act. Acts of such kindness have resulted in the robbery, disappearance, and death of countless souls around the world, which is in it’s self is a lesson and essay for another time; at least as to why such things occur. Simply Google Neale Donald Walsch’s story of “The Little Soul and the Sun” (Can be found on numerous sites on the web) and you can gain enough perspective into the seemingly evil and counterproductive actions in our world, as well as those of selfless altruism. Such experiences on both ends of the spectrum are often simply well laid and predestined occurrences on the maps of our life’s journey. It is also why we often question the harsh moments in life without understanding why we must endure them. We would rather blame an external Bogeyman for the worst experiences, and give thanks to a humanized god for answered prayer, all the while never realizing we alone stand at the helm of our journeys. Again, a lesson for another time. So, I wanted to share that experience with everyone. It made my day knowing the two strangers I had met were home safe and warm. Having driven them safely across the river, I was confident they made it home in time to engage in actions that would have lasting and positive implications in their life’s journey. Had I simply continued on my way, the lasting ripples cast into the universe from that moment could have had life altering consequences as well; for the worse perhaps, especially in the icy weather— a slip on the ice, a broken leg, a sliding car out of control heading recklessly toward them. The possibilities are endless. I’m just glad I know I did the right thing.