Andy and Earl

“Sometimes when things are falling apart, they may actually be falling into place.”

~Anonymous

Everyone knows Bill Cosby. Whether from his starring role for eight seasons as Cliff Huxtable on the Cosby Show or from his stand up comedy which is a favorite among many, his charismatic charm and unique humor are very recognized and praised in the entertainment industry. Bill Cosby was a name I grew up knowing, his face was often on the television screen in my living room because my dad always loved watching his show  followed by Home Improvement after a long day at work. I had Bills’ mannerisms memorized down to the silly voices he would pull out when exasperated  with his many rambunctious children. He was always an actor who I thought would be amazing to meet, although I knew the chances of that happening were slim to none. You can only imagine my excitement when a series of events resulted with me meeting someone almost identical to him, from the big toothy grin down to the contagious laugh that would make even the oldest and grumpiest man crack a smile. I want you to make a mental picture of  Bill Cosby. Take off a few pounds, add a few more gray hairs and top it off with a proudly worn military baseball cap pulled snug on his head. Meet Andy, a construction worker who spends his days with his good buddy Earl driving around in an older red pickup truck joking and talking from job to job. If one were to pass these two on the road and take a glance, you’d think they were just two boring older men and never think about them again. Lucky for me, my interaction with these two men was more than a forgotten glance.

I love my car, don’t get me wrong. She’s not quite my dream car, a yellow 2006 Jeep Wrangler Sport, but she’s almost as good. Yes, I refer to her as a she, and her name is Riley, a cute 2001 silver Chevy Tracker. Riley has been as reliable as expected for a used car, but over the past few weeks whenever I would drive her, her brakes would make an obnoxious grinding sound which caused more annoyance than any of my other pet peeves. I was concerned about the noises, but my schedule had been quite busy which put my car problems on delay in terms of bringing her into the shop. Well, I put off bringing her in for too long, which ended with me driving down the Carlisle Pike and her dropping a plethora of parts similar to Hansel and Gretals’ breadcrumb trail. I had no idea that parts were flying off my car, I just could tell something was horribly wrong due to the fact that whenever I took my foot off the brake the car wouldn’t even roll forward, causing me to have to apply more force on the pedal to get her to start grinding and rolling. Although I knew that the car had some serious issues, I also was aware that it was imperative for me to reach my destination at the end of the Carlisle Pike in order to make a payment for my car on time, so I progressed with my driving.

My hopes were to drive to the bank to make my payment, stopping as few times as possible since that was when the brakes made the most obnoxious sounds. Of course, every traffic light seemed to be programmed to turn red as my car reached them. Across the street from the nearby Hess at the red light is where I met good ‘ol Andy and Earl. BEEP BEEEEEEP! BEEP BEEP BEEEEEEP!!! Startled, I looked in the side mirror to see a man waving his hands up and down. Oh noo, what did I do this time, I thought to myself. It’s no secret that I’m not the best driver, so whenever I hear a horn my mind automatically thinks it must be because of something I did wrong. Already stressed about my car, I rolled my window down and yelled out asking what the problem was. “Something just fell off your car, and it doesn’t look too good!” These were the first words I heard from Andy, causing me to grow slightly panicked. The Carlisle Pike is one of the busiest roads in this area, no matter what time of day it is one can be certain that there will be a substantial amount of traffic. Sighing, I put my blinkers on and got out of the car, causing anyone late for appointments behind me to probably grow quite frustrated. Out of the passenger seat of the red pickup truck a fat man with rosy cheeks and a slightly stained gray shirt emerged, walking towards me. He picked up something out of the middle of the street that looked like a sort of large screw, saying it had fallen from the bottom of my vehicle. I tried to keep my composure and explained I had been having trouble with my car but hadn’t had a chance to take it into the shop yet. Without hesitating, the man laid down on the asphalt and took a look at the bottom of my car. “Holy s**t,” were his words as he inspected my brakes. He reached out to touch something under the car, which resulted in another holy s**t and a burn on his now greasy fingers. The view was comical, his under exercised body struggling to get up, and my eyes being graced by the stereotypical plumbers’ crack.

“Well, this isn’t gonna get you anywhere honey, not safely at least,” the man said to me. My heart dropped, I had already been stressed about making this payment on time, and it seemed like some sort of sick joke for my car to break down now of all times. “I can’t afford for it not to work, I have to get to where I was going. Is there any way you think it will make it a few more miles and then back to New Cumberland area?” The man hesitated before speaking, he then told me he had a 22 year old daughter and that he would never let her risk the drive. All of a sudden, the driver of the pickup yelled out the window, “Earl!! You figure out what’s wrong, or am I gonna hafta do it as usual?” “Oh shut it Andy, I’ve got this! We’re gonna make a side trip for this girl, got it?” Earl and I walked over to the drivers window, where the driver peered out at me. I explained my situation to him, saying that I could call someone for help and that I appreciated them flagging me down. Earl wouldn’t hear of leaving me on the side of the road by myself. “Andy, we both know we make enough side stops anyways, might as well help her out and do something useful with our time.” Andy agreed, at first seeming reluctant. Earl suggested that they would follow me to where my payment was due in their truck, instructing me to keep my blinkers on and saying that they would watch to make sure nothing else fell off the vehicle. As I said earlier, I am not the best driver. Although I wasn’t one hundred percent comfortable with this situation, I knew I didn’t have many other options at the moment, so I asked Earl if he would be willing to drive my vehicle, while doing so sending up a short prayer asking for protection. “No problem honey,” the fatherly man replied, and with that we walked back to my vehicle and started it up. We hadn’t driven more than ten feet before we heard Andy pounding on the horn and waving his hands eratically, BEEEP BEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!! The car made a few more noises, shaking as it drove. This thing isn’t going to get you anywhere else,” Earl said with defeat. He slowly pulled it off to the side of the road and parked it in an insurance parking lot, the car clunking the entire way. Andy backed his pick up truck in to the spot next to my pitiful car, yelling out of the window that the brake itself had fallen off my back left wheel. Andy looked from my car to me, and then said that he and Earl could take me wherever it was I needed to go and then provide me with a ride home. And that’s where my adventure began.

The pick up truck was a two seater, thus not being the most spacious of vehicles. I slid in to the middle, seated between two strangers. Although slightly nervous, I had a sense that I’d be okay, I could tell these were two older and honest men. I kept thanking them for everything, Earl cracked some jokes to lighten the mood. As we drove, it was an almost instant connection. Andy started loosening up, and before long I got him to crack a grin. The first time I made him laugh felt like such an accomplishment, he had a laugh that made me happy to instigate. Before long we were all making jokes and sharing stories. I found out that Andy had been in the military for many years, in which time he saw many parts of the world, living in Germany for over three years. His eyes sparkled as he shared stories, some of which I could tell he hadn’t thought of in years. He let out a chuckle as he said he retired in 1978 for the love of his life, who three years later turned into the nightmare of his life. As he shared his stories, Earl would interject at just the right times with comments which would send Andy into laughter. Their interaction with one another was enjoyable to watch, it was no challenge to tell that they had a genuine friendship, not just the usual co worker sort of deal. Before I knew it I was at the bank, ready to pay my bill. I promised the two that I’d be back in a jiffy, and that if it took too long they could come on in to speed up the process; I myself had no desire for long and boring conversation with the owners of the establishment. Upon the completion of paying my bill, I walked back out to the pickup truck to find a dark pink rose resting on my purse. “Just to brighten up your day, since it seems to be going rough,” Andy said. “Thank you both, you have been so helpful, I can’t even describe how grateful I am,” I said beaming as I inspected the flower. I told them when I got home I’d put it in a vase. “It’s not gonna last that long, put it in your hair!” Earl said happily as he got back into his seat. That’s exactly what I did, sticking it into my ponytail.

With the stress of making my payment out of the way, my mood was much brighter. We started the drive towards my house, conversation not ever stopping. I’m not quite sure how, but the topic of conversation turned to alcohol. Earl laughed as he said that he could find any location based on the closest bar. “How about you, Andy? Are you the same way,” I asked him. For the first time since we had gotten in the car Andy grew serious. “Nahh, not me, not a drinker, never plan on it. I grew up with my old man drinkin every day. He wasn’t a mean drunk or nothin, but it was always somethin I never was about to start. My entire family drunk a good lot, I just never needed none of that.” Earl cut him off, “whatcha tryna say about me Andy?” Then he broke into laughter, obviously kidding around. Soon talk turned to sports, and me claiming my loyalty to the Orioles. “AN ORIOLES FAN?! Get out of the car!!” Earl laughed as he disclosed he was a very faithful Yankees fan. Baltimore and New York had a very close battle fighting for first place in their division, so while my team wouldn’t usually have caused a problem, it was quite obvious why he had such hatred for the Orioles. “Oh Earl, shut it. Honey, I’m a Red Sox fan myself, but I’m representing your team right now,” Andy said. “What about for football?” Earl asked hopefully. “The Eagles of course,” I stated. “Why’d we stop to help her, Andy? Why?! I’m a Cowboys fan until the day I die.” We all laughed, and soon the conversation turned back to Andy. “I was a good ball player back in my day, believe it or not. Played on teams in the military all the time. We had to play softball though, no baseballs were allowed.” Andy shared story after exciting story about his days playing ball and the interesting people he met on different teams. He had the talent of a story teller, being able to capture my entire attention. I shared about how I used to ice skate and compete. Earl of course had a funny remark, stating if he put skates on and stepped foot on a frozen pond, all the ice would break.

Conversation effortlessly continued, jumping from topic to topic. Before I knew it, I was close to home. One of our last conversations was on the topic of forgiveness. I was able to share an experience I had with them, and how it had changed me. I could tell it was empowering to them, and although I don’t know why, I know we were meant to meet. Once we had arrived at my destination, I got out of the car, thanking them one last time and wishing them a good rest of their lives. They did the same, thanking me for listening to all their stories from youth and saying how happy it made them to remember the good ‘ole days again. With that, we separated ways, and I doubt that I’ll ever see either of them ever again. To many, this may seem like quite the long post for such a story, but to me, this was something bigger than a car ride. This was a prime example of life handing out a situation, and me having the option of how to respond. I could have seen this entire situation as a negative, and at the end of the day gone to bed frazzled and upset about the days happenings. Instead, I knew I couldn’t change what had happened to my car, but I decided to let myself be open to experiencing the positives from this event. I can honestly say I’m very happy that this is the way my car broke down. If it was going to happen anyways, the way it did was perfect. I met two people who otherwise I would have never met, and upon being dropped off at my house, I was in a much better mood than before the entire event happened. If anything, this reinforced my belief that everything happens for a reason, and a positive can come from any situation if you are open to the experience. I’ll never know how what I said impacted those two men, but I still know it made a difference. Problems happen, cars break down, and plans change. But those happenings usually are fixable, my car will work again and the problem will be solved. Be open to flexibility, you never know how big of an impact you can have on others. What started out with two concerned men helping me turned into me inspiring them and them having an enjoyable afternoon remembering their past. And for me, what started as a nightmare of my car braking down turned into an enjoyable hour of conversation with two wise goofballs. Oh, and just for the record, I’d take another conversation with Andy over meeting Bill Cosby any day.