There are nice people left

True Story: A man was driving through a really bad part of Cape Town last week - when suddenly his car broke down. He got out the car and went to inspect the engine. Caught up in the frenzy of traffic trying to divert around his stopped car he closed the driver’s door behind him and heard the heart breaking click as he locked himself out. The keys were still in the car but all the doors had somehow locked.

He was a single man with no wife at home to bring him the spare set of keys and so quickly realised he had a major problem on his hands.

Thoughts of breaking the window of his car to get in were just begining to form in his mind when a random stranger pulled off the road and got out to help him. The two quickly realised there was no getting into the car and to the keys.

Just then the random stranger turned to the man and said: “Here, take my car and go fetch your spare key from home. I’ll wait here and direct the traffic around your car.” Astounded he took the 20 minute drive home and 20 minute drive back to the car and on return found the random stranger still directing traffic around his car.

When I heard this story I knew I had to blog it. Isn’t it amazing: there actually are nice people left in the world… How cool! Have you got a “nice person” story?

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You’re currently reading “There are nice people left,” an entry on Tim Keller

Published:: 07.20.06 / 6pm

Category:: Inspiration

About

Tim is the CEO of OneWebStudios, a small Web Application development house which is actively working on the ChirpSchool suite of school-management applications as well as holding the position of Business and Development Engineer at Umoya Networks. He also speaks to school staff and students alike on a range of IT topics including Java, PHP, MySQL, GoogleEarth as a teaching tool, Python, Ajax and Computer Theory. Most importantly he has a beautiful girlfriend named Amy who he is completely in love with.

James 07.20.06 / 8pm

Wow, that’s amazing. Shows that people still do care for each other at the core of it all. Great stuff.

K Farrell 07.20.06 / 8pm

More importantly than finding other true stories, I believe anyway, is to put forth the question, “Would you, as a stranger, have done the same?”

Personally, I would have done the same because it’s so hard these days, not only to be nice, but to accept niceness. I believe that there is certain responsibility to accepting another’s efforts to help. WThat when someone puts forth a show of trust such as that stranger did, it is not merely important to see that he walks away from the situation glad to have helped, it is vital.

Accepting and offering help in this fashion is never an isolated instance. It always is a crossroads for the future, and yet few people seem to realize it. People often don’t stop to think that the manner in which the entire situation is handled will dictate whether or not the stranger ever offers to help anyone else, and also whether or not the man in need will help when it comes his time to be in the stranger’s shoes.

I believe the lesson this type of story teaches (because there is a lesson in EVERY story) is that we should never take advantage of a strangers assistance and we should always help when we have it in our power to do so. people always reap what they sow. Rarely is the source the same, but it does always come back to us. It is part of the balance of the world.

In everything and everyone everywhere, the key is balance. Remember that-

timkeller 07.21.06 / 7am

How very true. It’s just all too easy to drive on by - our frenetic lives have made some of us so immune to love and kindness that we can’t believe it even still exists. Thanks for you comments, most appreciated!

Tim Keller

There are nice people left

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