Damsel in Distress

Through the power of Facebook, I ended up finding some friends I went to college with and we all decide to go out to dinner one evening.

As I am driving to the suburbs, I get a flat tire. UGH! In all my years of driving, I never have been stranded on the side of the road before. I always was in a place where I could get help.

I am on the Kennedy which is a very busy expressway and I was nervous as cars kept cruising by me. I didn’t know what to do so I found an 800 number in my car manual and called. Of course, my warranty is expired so they said I had to call IDOT – Illinois Department of Transportation.

I call and they said they would dispatch someone. I asked how long it would take? They said could be from 5 minutes to 5 hours. Great, it is 10 degrees with snow, and I am stuck on the side of the road.

I was really nervous about all the cars whizzing by so I get out and am standing away from my car in the grassy/snowy area calling my friends. I am telling them it will be awhile before I get there.

As I am on the phone, this guy pulls over to help. He comes over and asks what is wrong? He thought I was sick or something as I was just standing outside of the car.

I said, I have a flat tire! He said, no problem, I can help with that. I said, you can? He said, sure, you have a spare, right? I said, I am assuming!?

Cars are not my strongest subject, folks.

As a city girl, you end up having quite a bit of things in your trunk. There is no place to store golf clubs, tennis rackets, etc. so here we are unloading my trunk hoping to find a tire.

Victorious! We find a tire and guess what? It is flat. UGH! He asked who was coming to help and I told him the IDOT truck. He said, that is great, they have air on those trucks. Thank God this guy knows all of this.

He said, do you want to wait in my car while we look for the truck? I know what you are thinking, who would get in this stranger’s car? Well, I would.

I can usually size people up and I didn’t get one creepy vibe from this guy. He was on his way home from work and was just genuinely concerned and wanted to help.

He said if you get in my car, then at least there is a buffer if someone accidentally hits your car. All very scary scenarios to think about but it seemed like a good option.

As we sit in his car we start talking about life. Come to find out he is recently divorced, has a couple of kids and works in the construction business. He just seemed like a really good guy. He told me his wife was going through a mid-life crisis and wanted a divorce. He never saw it coming. He said he started very early in life for a family, I told him I was still waiting to begin!

I asked him if he needed to meet his friends? He had told me his buddies were going to watch a band that evening. And, they kept calling him while we were in the car. He said, Sue, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night knowing you are on the side of the road, I am staying here until we get this fixed. Awwww - what a good guy.

The irony of this entire situation is many times I have been told guys don’t know where to fit in my life because I am so independent. Well, this guy happens to meet me on a night that I couldn’t have been more helpless. I really was not sure what to do.

We end up calling the IDOT place back because now it has been an hour and a half. Oh, they forgot to tell us, there are no trucks in the area that night. Great. They recommended we call a private tow truck which I did.

Mr. Wonderful said he would take my tire and go fill it up with air and come back and help me fix it. My hero! I stayed in my car in case the tow truck guy comes.

So, because we are on an expressway, this guy had to go to the next exit, fill up the tire and go back all the way around to find me again. Seriously, the nicest guy in the world.

He fills the tire up and the tow truck guy comes and the two of them fix it while I stay in Mr. Wonderful’s car nice and warm. He even was going to pay for the tow truck and I had to run out to fix that.

I said to him, can I take you out for a drink sometime to thank you for your help? He said, I would love to see you, but can I take you out instead? Mr. Wonderful, what a guy!

It takes a couple of months but we do end up going out for a drink. We had a great time where a couple of hours felt like a couple of minutes. He is just a very sweet and caring guy, but I quickly learned he is not sure what he wants out of life. He never dreamed he would be single again and is trying to figure out which way is up. I respect his position and understand he is not really available.

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Lesson Learned? God works in mysterious ways. You can meet a guy literally anywhere! And, if a guy never saw a divorce coming, it takes them much longer to be emotionally available.