GOOD SAMARITANS still exist. A Pennsylvania reader sends this report of a recent incident that provides gratifying proof:
There he was, stranded on a four-lane highway, only 30 minutes from his York, Pa., home. He was returning one recent Saturday from his Princeton reunion (Class of '40-something) when a tire went flat.
With a back condition that precludes working with a jack, no mobile phone and no phone booth in sight, he ponders his fate. Cars zoom by, ignoring his distress signal, when voila! a Maryland-licensed car pulls off the road in front of him. Driver is 30-something.
She: Car trouble, eh?
He: Yeah, a flat tire, and my doctor says I should do no tire-changing.
She: Let's get your jack out. I'll change it for you. My dad always said everyone should be able to change a tire and he taught all six of us kids how to do it.
Ten minutes later, the mission was accomplished.
He: Let me get you a cloth to clean your hands.
She: Thanks, I have my own here on the back seat beside my sleeping baby. (Removes cloth, child continues to sleep.) Didn't I see some Princeton memorabilia in your trunk?
He: Yes, I was returning from a Princeton reunion.
She: Very interesting. My Dad is Harvard '46.
He: Why on Earth would a woman stop for a male stranger?
She: Oh, you looked like my father, so I knew I could trust you.
He: For heaven's sake, don't tell him you stopped on a highway to change a Princeton man's tire!
(More amenities . . . then --)
He: May I have your name, so I can acknowledge this Good Samaritan deed?
She: My name is Pat. No last names, please. I'm a statistician with a Maryland firm.
(Exit 30-something)
He: (on his way rejoicing) Hmmm!"
