Saturday, November 2, 2013

Call a Tow Truck?

9:30pm, a bit chilly out, just got out of the monthly outreach event, didn't drive more than 100 yards, got a flat, walked the bike about a mile, found a repair man on the sidewalk packing his stuff onto his bike getting ready to call it a day, made signs pointing at the back tire and showing an obvious pitiful desperate face begging him to stay for one more, he (short and shriveled, in his 60's, limping, wearing a big thick loose jacket, pockets full of screwdrivers and odd tools, hands stained black from engine oil) shook his head (he's deaf and mute), another old man nearby came to help entreat him to stay, 5 minutes of back and forth gestures later... I parked the bike up on the sidewalk, he took out the tube, it turned out more than just a puncture as the old man showed me the cracked rubber wall around the valve, he used a screwdriver that was in his hand and wrote the number "80" on the sidewalk concrete and then looked up at me, I nodded (thinking I would be willing to pay even 100), he stood up and walked to his bike, rummaging through a bag, and walked back to my bike with a new tube... 15 minutes later, I was on my bike driving home, relieved, and a happy smile on my face.

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