Idaho Breakdown Story :: August 19th, 2003 ::
The trip went smoothly. Ten states, three different modes of transportation, four nights in motels (each in a different state, no less), and one breakdown on the Idaho Interstate that wound up being a lot less of a problem than one might expect. Now my mind feels clear; ever since I?ve gotten up this morning I?ve found myself feeling excited about all the daily routines that felt like so much drudgework before I left ten days ago. I?m sure it has something to do with the entire trip, but I think the breakdown and the help Jessamyn and I received on the side of the Interstate by a complete stranger did a lot to put things in perspective.
See, here?s the story. The car had overheated, and it was pretty clear that the radiator had no coolant in it. We were sitting by the side of the road, waiting for the engine to cool off on its own before starting it again and then trying to get it to the next town for, who knows, car repairs? a tow back to Boise? some sort of divine intervention? We really hadn?t thought it out that far. After forty-five minutes, someone pulled off onto the shoulder in front of us. She asked if we needed help and, after I said that we did, we looked under the hood of our car. She spotted a rip in the top radiator hose, which was where all the coolant had apparently leaked out. Strapping on duct tape and filling the radiator with water, we were ready to strike out for the next town, where we could get a new hose and then fill up the radiator with coolant. And that?s where our encounter started to get much more interesting.
She said she would follow us there, to make sure we got to town without a problem. When we got there, she took us first to a radiator repair shop, then to an auto parts store when it turned out that the radiator guys couldn?t help us. Then, after we got all the parts we needed, she proceeded replace the hose in our car herself, using the tools she had in the trunk of her car. I now wonder if she would have even paid for the parts herself if we somehow couldn?t have covered the measly costs.
I asked her why she had so many tools in her car, and she said that you need them when you?re out fighting forest fires.
So we were ready to move on, $30 in parts and less than an hour?s worth of labor. And the car worked beautifully for the next three days. It continues to do well; last I heard Jessamyn was in Johnson City, TN, about three hours from the Raliegh, NC. And while I?m not completely ready to declare the trip across the country a success, I feel pretty confident that things will work out just fine.
I think the Idaho breakdown story has some special significance as I?m headed off to Law school. By all accounts, a legal education is a huge investment of time, money and brainpower, and in a very real way I think of it as a commitment to American society, through an acceptance of the system of justice has been established over the past two hundred and some years. As I?ve come to grips with the commitment I?ve made, I?ve come to see how important it is for me to believe that people who make up that society are ultimately good. Being helped by the side of the road by a complete stranger has had a significantly positive effect.
