A Helping Hand

When my wife and I got married we compromised on a home in a very upscale neighborhood about five miles outside of town. We chose this home one because it was close to her work and two it was far enough outside of town to still be rural for me as I am Southern Country boy and being in town just does not work for me. Many of my neighbors do not like the idea of us living in their neighborhood as we are both military and tend to have friends and family over for get togethers with a fire on the deck and some good music and laughter. Though we are always respectful they still prefer us not be there. Recently we were hit with several strong snow storms dumping nearly two feet of snow in just a couple of days. The snow plows do not plow our roads so they got very rutted and slick. On my way home from work on the third day of this storm there were several cars that were stuck at the bottom of the hill trying to get home. But BMWs and Mercedes do not go through two feet of snow very well. So most of my neighbors were either stuck trying to get home or stuck trying to go to work as you have to go over the hill and down the other side to get to the homes. I spent the next two hours pulling vehicles up one side and then bringing the next vehicle up the other side with my Dodge truck. The next day was about the same thing. Most of the people that I helped were grateful though some had the attitude that they were entitled to being helped. When one of them asked what do I owe you? I answered with the phrase my father used, “Owe me for what, you needed help and I was able to do so. You owe me nothing”. I did take the time to mention to them that I was raised in the South were helping your neighbor was something you were happy to do, whether we agreed on everything or not, you still helped. It dawned on me later that this is one of those occasions in which we can introduce people to the true South. I intend on taking every opportunity to do just that.