Reaping What We Sow

   As a lad I wasn’t a good person, I remember the old folk saying things like, “You reap what you sow,” and, “What goes around comes around,” and “Do onto others as you would have done onto you.” Drivel, I thought. In my later years I started to do more public service and helping people when I get the chance. My way of giving something back to the community, so to speak.
   One night, after locking the shop and starting homeward bounding, I came upon two young woman who had missed a turn and gone off the road. I stopped and the girl who owned the car was crying. She had torn open her transmission on a rock. I told her not to go anywhere, (as if she could have) and returned to my shop to get our ramp truck. I pulled her car onto the truck and dropped it in my shop. I removed the pan from the transmission and with torch and hammer worked at straightening it. I filled the transmission with hydraulic oil and told her to get it looked at by her favorite shop after she got home.
“What do I owe you?” she asked me.
“Nothing,” I told her. “It would be against the law for me to charge you.”
“Why is that?” she asked.
“I’m not a licensed repair shop, this is a rigging company.” I told her. “Have your regular mechanic inspect, flush, and change the filter. It will get you home.”
“How can I repay you?”
“Forget it. Someday when you have the chance to help someone, think about tonight. You girls travel safe.” I never saw them again.

  

   Months later, my wife cashed my paycheck and went grocery shopping, in the parking lot she dropped her wallet. She never missed it, later that afternoon a young boy came to the door and gave her the wallet. She opened the wallet and found it still contained $640.00. She handed the boy a twenty, and thanked him. A couple of hours later the boy came to the door and gave her the twenty-dollar bill. “My dad told me that returning the wallet was the right thing to do and I shouldn’t except a reward for doing the right thing.” He explained. When she told me the story I couldn’t believe people teach such principles to their children.

 

   A couple of years later, Sprall-Mart had a Grand Opening of the first store in our area. A friend of mine was selling helicopter rides in the far end of the parking lot. I saw my ex-wife at the store and we had a pleasant chat, then she said, “You remember that time I lost my wallet?”
“I remember you telling me about it.” I told her.
“That’s the boy who found it, right there.” She pointed to a family walking toward the helicopter.
“You sure?” I asked.
“No doubt about it.” She replied.
“I’ve got to go take care of something.” I told her and followed the family toward the helicopter. I waited in line behind them, the father checked his wallet and said, “We’ll see how much it is,” he said to his wife. “If it’s not too much we’ll all go, if it’s more than twenty dollars we’ll just send the kids.” The helicopter landed and the ground man backed the fuel truck up to hot fuel. I stepped over the rope and went to see my friend in the right seat.
“Otter, how ya doing?” he asked.
“Excellent,” I replied. “I need a favor, see the family of four at the end of the line, three o’clock?”
“Good looking blond, tall guy, teenage girl, and the boy in the blue shirt?” he asked.
“That’s them, give them a special ride, on me, let me know how much or take it out of my fuel allowance.”
“Friends of yours?”
“The kid needs a reward he doesn’t have to return.” I told him.
“Put in the left stick, I’ll give him a real treat,” he said, “It’s in the baggage compartment, tell Bill to put the kid in front. Grab him a headset, too!”
   I pinned in the left stick, put in the headset, and told Bill to put the boy in front seat.

Harvest time!