The Kindness of a Stranger

Right now Indianapolis is on pace for a top four snowfall, if not record breaking, winter.  So my husband and I have had lots of practice shoveling the white stuff from our driveway and sidewalk.  This last snow we got about 8.5 inches overnight and at about 3:00 AM the morning of the storm we heard the snow plows clearing the streets of our neighborhood. 

Now I appreciate the streets being cleared but it seems like every time the plows come through they deposit the snow that was cleared at the end of our driveway.  This snow was no different.  On Wednesday morning we walked out of our house to find a mountain of snow packed into the end of our driveway.  It was about 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide of hard packed snow and ice.  There was no way our cars would get over the embankment.  So we started digging to clear a path. 

While I was working on the snow a pick up truck drove by with a snow blade on the front.  After the driver picked up someone in the next block he was driving by our house again.  I waved him down and we asked if he would take a few minutes to clear the mountain of snow at the end of our driveway.  We were happy to pay him for his time. 

He lowered the plow blade and with about 4 swipes he had the snow cleared and stacked up at the corners of our driveway.  Those snow mountains at the corners of our driveway are about 5 feet tall now.  This good Samaritan saved us hours of work and lots of body aches and pains. 

When he was done we asked him if we could pay him and he said no, just enjoy our day.  He did not have a company name on his truck so I can't even thank him by name in this blog posting.  I was so grateful that this stranger came along and took a few minutes to help us out. 

So this is a story of the kindness of a stranger, and the gratitude of the person he helped.  To honor his kindness I plan to "pay it forward" and do something kind for a stranger the next time I have the opportunity.