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Country Roads and Country People

Reader Contribution by Mary Conley
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Dear friends,

There is always something out there that we don’t know about, and now I’m going to tell you one of those probably useless pieces of information: Did you know that gravel roads are full of nails and other objects that can puncture your tires? We had been to our farm numerous weekends and never gotten a flat tire. However, in the almost three years that our son and family lived here, they got over 50. FIFTY! Todd bought a special tire kit and fixed them himself. He once showed us a spike he pulled out! He thought it happened mostly after the road grader had passed and dug up all the junk that had fallen off the trucks, etc.

I like to fix problems so here is my solution: I think the road graders should drag a heavy magnet across the back that would pick up all the metal immediately! Sure would save everyone a lot of time and money.

This is OUR dirt road. We don’t understand why we like it. We just do!

Now, getting to country people. If you’ve become disheartened about the human race in general, you should come out to visit us and meet some of these nice country people who are always ready to give a helping hand. We’ve experienced it before, but I want to tell you about our latest since it is a flat tire adventure!

We were off the dirt road and on the highway going to town, when we heard the telltale sounds. Larry pulled off and put on that little spare from the trunk. It had been in there since we bought the car (16 years) so it was not a huge surprise when it was also low on air. Two kind men stopped and used their tiny compressor gadget to blow it up, but alas, it had pulled away from the rim. Then they gave us a ride into town, dropped me off at Subway, and dropped Larry and the tire off at a tire store.

I was at Subway for a long time before Larry came walking in. After eating, he called about the tire and discovered it couldn’t be fixed. Leaving out a lot of details, the manager noticed us talking about our problem, and inquired if we needed help. Larry walked back to the tire place and bought a used tire, the manager’s fiancé picked him and the tire up, picked me up, and drove us to our car. What would we have done without them?!

Later, when we were in the grocery store, a man who worked there asked if we had gotten everything worked out. He had heard some of the conversation at Subway. He was very friendly and gave Larry a lot of information about where he could buy tires if needed.

When we were in bed that night, Larry and I named one person after another who had been kind and helpful to us during our dilemma and while running errands. It lifted our spirits and made our hearts feel good. Doesn’t this story just make you want to smile at the next stranger you meet?!

Country roads? Not so good. Country people? The best!