It is said, “one man’s loss is another man’s gain.” Take an experience I had last week.
My Sister and Brother In Law were visiting, I’m driving them back to their condo when “BAM!” I smack head on into a concrete medium. My front tire immediately goes flat, and I limp my car to the nearest parking lot to call On Star for help.
In the meantime, instead of offering assistance, condolences, or moral support, my Brother In Law starts laughing. Not a snicker or chuckle, mind you. A derisive laugh is coming from his mouth. He is laughing so hard, his stomach starts hurting. It seems my calamity is one of the funniest things he has ever seen. He enjoys laughing at others misfortune, but I digress.
Soon, the emergency repairman shows up, changes my tire, I take my sister and her still laughing husband back to their condo, and head off to get my flat tire repaired.
While driving to a local tire repair shop I am familiar with, I happen upon another much closer to where I was going. This place is located south St. Petersburg, in an area where people with my skin tone are not supposed to be. But, if you know me, the idea I may be in a neighborhood where people don’t look like me, never crosses my mind. The man owns a tire repair shop, I need a tire repaired, so I stop.
The owner greats me with a smile, right after asking, “What are you doing
around here?”, and tells 
me he can fix my tire, no problem. He slides the jack under my car, takes off the tire, and begins to go to work.
I can’t help noticing all the people from the neighborhood coming and going in and around his business. Like it’s the local gathering place. Some are coming to get tires fixed, most are just hanging out. Talking, laughing, throwing barbs at the owner while he throws them right back. I say to him,
“You are in the wrong business. This is a reality TV show in the making! You start a camera here and you could end up a millionaire.” He laughs and replies,
“You think people tell their barber or their hair stylist crazy stuff? You ought to hear what they tell their tire repair guy!”
A very loud but very funny black woman is getting a couple of tires repaired. She previously worked at McDonald’s and said she just got a new job at the Vinoy. She needs four tires on her van, but can only afford two. I hear her ask the owner if she can buy four, pay for two today and two when she gets paid in two weeks. I come to understand the owner does a lot of business like this. It’s that kind of neighborhood. People are living paycheck to paycheck, just barely getting by. And, these are used tires he is selling, because few in this neighborhood can afford new ones.
The owner is finished with my car and says, “That will be $10.” $10??? You are kidding! He took an hour removing the tire, hammering out the bent rim, fixing the flat, balancing and reinstalling. Some mornings I spend $10 at Starbucks!
I ask him how much her bill would be. You know, the woman who needs four tires. He says, “$50.” I let him know I will be paying my bill and hers, but don’t say anything to her. He smiles and me and says, “Really? She is going to freak!”
As I am leaving, he can’t hold it in. He says to her, “That man just paid your bill.” What happened next can only be described as pure, unadulterated, joy!
“PRAISE GOD, PRAISE GOD, OH PRAISE JESUS, OH HE’S GOOD, OH PRAISE HIM, I KNEW HE WAS GOING TO BLESS ME!” Over and over and over again she yelled it at the top of her lungs as she was jumping up and down and hugging me as if she would never let go!
She asked my name. I said Dennis. She took out a piece of paper, wrote her name and phone number down and said, “Mr. Dennis, if I can even do anything for you, ANYTHING, you call me!” What gratitude!
So this Thanksgiving, don’t just be thankful for what you have. Be thankful for what you can give. For many of us, what amounts to the cost of going out to dinner, can mean being able to get to work for others.
Oh, and my Brother In Law? The guy who thought my loss was so funny? I am saving my laughter for his funeral!
The Lonesome Leaker 