1 Peter 3:8

Seriously, do.

“Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.”

1 Peter 3:8

I chose to begin this blog with a bible verse.

I chose this particular verse because it applies directly, and even profoundly, to a recent experience I had with a person who needn’t be named here and then, the same day, a different person and a business whose staff could not have been kinder or more compassionate to me, a direct and memorable contrast from the way I had been treated moments before by Mr. Nameless-I’m-so-important.

It was as though God was saying, “Here is one person who, by outward appearances, lives on an upper rung in life, has advantages others do not, some surely earned and some handed down or perhaps fed to him with a silver spoon, and this is how he treats fellow humans. Do better. All of you.”

Then, in comparison, God showed me how love, kindness, honesty and compassion are important in how people treat others.

I won’t name-check the one, but I will trumpet the business name of the second, G’s Automotive in Switz City, if only to act as a witness to the effect humility has on the soul.

Let me start at the beginning.

On Friday, I got an email from World Arts Printing in Spencer (5 stars, great staff, great prices, great product done quickly and done very well) notifying me the 2024 Greene County Humane Society’s First Responders and Furry Friends of Linton, Indiana calendar was ready to be picked up in Spencer.

I got the email at 4:27 p.m. and their office closes at 4:30. Dang!

Monday was a holiday, so I emailed back to ask if they would be open. They were, so I made plans to go pick them up.

My car, my fate, my Monday had other plans for me. Long story short, my 2005 Monte Carlo made it to within one mile of Spencer before overheating and shutting down. In 3-degree weather. On a Monday.

I am a fairly independent individual, I have myself and only myself to rely on in fair weather or foul, but luckily, I have some pretty awesome friends.

As I maneuvered the car to the shoulder and activated the hazard lights, I wanted to cry. So many things run through your mind when things like this happen. If you’re me, those things are ‘CRAP,’ ‘What happened?’ ‘I know next to nothing about cars, how bad is this?’ ‘Am I going to need a tow truck?’ ‘Is my car ruined?’ ‘I have to have a car for my job, what am I going to do?’ and ‘How much is this going to cost?’. The last question is generally the most frightening when living paycheck to paycheck and basically scraping by. Unexpected expenses like car trouble can be very stressful and a bit scary and most definitely unwelcome on a 3-degree day.

As fate would have it, God, or one of his emissaries, dropped in on me a moment later, as I saw the Owen County Sheriff pull in behind me seconds after I had turned off the ignition.

Sheriff Ryan White, who retired from the Indiana State Police after 21 years, was elected as Owen County Sheriff in 2022.

Here is a quote of his that I found on his Facebook campaign page:

“Law Enforcement Officers are no better than anyone else, but should be held to a higher standard; that which displays Courage, Integrity, Professionalism, and the highest Moral Values, on or off-duty.” - Ryan White.

This guy means what he says, folks. He came up to my car, listened to my plight, looked under the hood helplessly, after admitting he knew nothing about cars and offered assistance in calling a tow truck.

I just wanted to pick up our calendars, so I asked if he could give me a lift to the printers, which he did happily. Dropping me off, he said to say hello to Anna, a salesperson at World Arts. White was the epitome of what a law enforcement officer should be. He was kind, responsive, supportive and helpful. I’d vote for him, for sure.

So, long story short again, my very good friend Kegan Inman came to my rescue, picking me and the calendars up in Spencer and taking me back to my poor car. If ever anyone deserved a set of wings and a halo, it’s Kegan. He’s a realtor, so do yourself a favor and buy a house from him. He’ll do right by you, hand to God.

Kegan followed me back, stopping each time my car died, twice more, if I remember correctly.

We got to Switz City and I decided to park it in the triangular gravel lot of what seemed to be an unused building or at least one where I wouldn’t be in the way. I had assumed, in our kind Greene County community, that whoever owned the lot would be understanding if I left my car there until I could get back to bring it to a mechanic.

Boy, was I wrong.

The lot owner called the sheriff, making a big stink about how it was “blocking access to his business (it wasn’t)” and he wanted it gone. Okay, okay, jeez.......had he never broken down before?

Our sheriff’s office called the paper to let me know, and to let me know I had 72 hours to move the vehicle, not “less than 24” as the grumpy guy claimed.

Another angel, my friend Rick, took me to the car the following day.

I’m pretty sure Mr. Impatient was sitting at his giant window with binoculars just waiting, because he was on me like white on rice before I could even unlock the car door.

He got out of his truck in full bully-mode, attempting to intimidate both myself and my friend with insults and general poopiness.

“I have apologized for leaving my car here for under 30 hours, Sir,” I said. “I’m not sure what more you want from me, but that’s all I’m offering.”

He indignantly got back into his big expensive vehicle and drove away. Rick and I just looked at each other and laughed. What else can you do when someone shows you such ugliness when a little kindness would have been easier and left a vastly better impression?

So we went to G’s to leave my car, where every person was kind, patient and neighborly, and talked all the way home about the difference between a person, not all of them, but definitely the one on whose lot I had parked, who has a lot of material wealth but treats other people with contempt and disdain, vaulting himself above others, and people like Sheriff White and the staff at G’s, whose default attitude towards others is kindness. What a difference. I’ll take the nice ones any day.

Patti is Editor of the Greene County Daily World. She loves kitty-cats, chocolate anything and watching X-Files or the Walking Dead. If you would like to share a story (or some chocolate) or just make a friend, she can be reached at pdanner@gcdailyworld.com.