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Individuals Paying It Forward |
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| On
a winter night in January 1971, after I had returned from Vietnam,
a friend and I were out "cruising" near my home in Bozeman,
Montana. Our car slipped off the road and we were stuck, but good.
It was late and there was no traffic on this quiet country road at
1:00 am. Then, a semi truck came down the road. The driver pulled
up, stepped out of the cab, took one look at our situation, and pulled
out a chain. He hooked the chain to our axle and to the front of his
truck and backed that long rig down about 200 feet of road without
saying anything more than, "Steer it out." Again without
saying a word, he got out of the cab, unhooked the chain, put it away
and started to climb into his truck.
I asked if we could pay him, buy him breakfast or something. He had saved us from either a cold night or a long walk. He climbed up into his truck and just said, "Pass it on." Since that night I have tried to take a few risks and help a few people, hitchhikers, people stuck or broken down, some people in need. Once I had the most unusual experience of driving up to a man hitchhiking and although I was not going his way, gave him my still hot McDonalds breakfast, and drove on. In each case when I had the opportunity, I told people about that trucker and asked them to "Pass it on." I just watched your movie for the second time and know that somehow, for me, it is an old ending and a new beginning to that trucker. Maybe one of those "Pass it on(s)" made it's way to you. Maybe long before you wrote the book, one of your "Pay it forward(s)" got to some truckdriver. You have captured a spirit and begun sharing it and the world will be a better place for it. My poor letter cannot attempt to capture what you have given me, nor what that trucker gave me 32 years ago. Simply, thank you. "Paying it forward." Jon Erickson Sterling, |
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