A person without a cell phone is always being advised to get one, if only for emergency use if a vehicle breaks down on the highway. But how do cell phones really compare with good neighbors for real help? Recently when my vehicle broke down on a lonely stretch of Route 7 east of Berryville VA, my first thought was, “Oops, my children would say that now is when a cell phone would come in handy.” Well, would it have? Who would I have called? Not AAA, I do not subscribe. But if I had, they would have sent a tow truck to haul my vehicle into their nearest approved garage. And not a local garage, since I didn’t have a phone book and couldn’t know where was the nearest garage. But if I had, they would have done a road call and probably towed me in to their shop. And not local police? They would have done the same, sent a tow truck for me. My daughter? Well, she could perhaps have searched the phone book and found a nearby garage to tow me, and then we could have arranged for how I would get to her place—would someone come after me or should I take a taxi?
But after I sat there by the side of the road for about 10 or 15 minutes, a kindly gent—a true good neighbor—stopped by, and when I explained the situation to him, expecting to have to call a tow truck and then my daughter, he decided to try to start the vehicle. It started up and was running fine. He advised me to go to the nearest garage, back in Berryville, and loaned me his cell phone to call my daughter. She did not answer, so I left a message. She could have been no help at that time, and she would not have been able to call me back.
The garage quickly found my problem, made repairs, and sent me on my way for an outlay of $64.00. After I used their landline phone to call my daughter, brief her on what had happened, and update her on my expected time of arrival.
Good neighbors over cell phones anytime.
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