A man was driving home one evening，on a two—lane country road．Work in this small mid—western community．was almost as slow as hitbeat—up Pontiac．But he never quit looking．
Ever since the factory closed，he’d been unemployed，and with win—ter raging on，the chill had finally hit home．
It was a lonely road．Not very many people had a reason to be on it，unless they were leaving．Most of his friends had already left．They hadfamilies tO feed and dreams to fulfill．But he stayed on．
After all，this was where he buried his mother and father．He wasborn here and knew the country．He could go down this road blind，andtell you what was on each side，and with his headlights not working，which came in handy．
It was starting to get dark and light snow flurries were comingdown．He’d better get a move on．You know，he almost didn’t see theold lady，stranded on the side of the road．But even in the dim light ofday，he could see she needed help．He pulled up in front of her Mercedesand got out．His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her．E—ven with the smile on his face，she was worried．No one had stopped tohelp for the last hour or so．he ging’thurt her？He didn’t look safle，he looked p。。r and hungry．He could see that she was frightened，standing out there in the cold．He knew how she felt．It was that chill that only fear Can put in you．
“I’m here to help you ma’aln．Why don’t you wait in the car where it’S warm？By the way，my nanle is Bill．”
Well，all she had was a flat tire，but for an old lady，that was bad e—nough．
Bryan crawled under the Car looking for a place to put the jack，skin—ning his knuckles a time or two．Soon he was able to change the tire．But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt．As he was tightening up the lug nuts，she rolled down her window and began to talk to him．She told him that she was from St．Louis and was only just passing through．She couldn’t thank him enough for coming to aid her．Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk．
She asked him how much she owed him．Any amount would have been all right with her．She had already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped．
Bryan never thought twice about the money．This was not a job to him．This was helping someone in need，and God knows there were plen—ty who had given him a hand in the past···He had lived his whole life that way．and it never occu~ed tO him tO act any other way．
He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back，the next time she saw someone who needed help，she could give that person the assis—tance that they needed，and Bryan added“…and think of me．”
He waited until she started her car and drove Off．It had been a coldand depressing day，but he felt good as he headed for home，disappe~nginto the twilight．
A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe．She went intograb a bite to eat，and take the chill offbefore she made the last leg ofhertrip home．It was a dingy looking restaurant．Outside were two old gaspumps．
The whole scene was unfamiliar to her．The case register was likethe telephone of an out of work actor__it didn’t ring much．Her waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair．