The stranger whose words changed my life 💔🧡
Have you ever picked up a hitchhiker? I used to. Almost every time I saw someone on the roadside, I’d stop. But life changed. I moved to a big city. My boyfriend wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea. I fell out of the habit.
Then something happened that shook me — not about hitchhiking, but about humanity.
Over the past year, I had three different breakdowns while driving borrowed cars. A blown tire on the freeway, a dead fuse box, and running out of gas. Every single time, I was met with indifference. Cars passed. Tow trucks passed. Gas stations refused to loan me a can — “for my safety.” I started to think maybe we really are going to hell in a handbasket.
But in all three cases, do you know who stopped for me?
Immigrants. Mexican immigrants. None of them spoke much English. But one of them — one family — left a mark on my heart I’ll never forget.
That day, I was stranded with a blown tire on a Jeep and no jack. I’d been there 4 hours. Signs in the window, waving people down, even offering cash. No luck.
Then a van pulls over. A man jumps out, takes a look, and calls his young daughter to translate. He has a jack, but it’s too small. So he cuts a log from a fallen tree to brace it. We get the car lifted. Then I snap his tire iron.
No hesitation — his wife takes off to buy another one. Fifteen minutes later, we finish the job, both of us sweating and covered in grime. His wife brings water for us to wash our hands. I try to slip him a $20 — he refuses. I sneak it to his wife instead.
As I thank them and prepare to leave, his daughter offers me a tamale from their cooler. Best. Tamale. Ever.
Then I unwrap it… and inside is the $20 bill.
I run to the van, holding it out. “Por favor,” I beg. He just smiles, shakes his head, and says slowly, carefully:
“Today you... tomorrow me.”
Then they drove away, daughter waving in the rearview. And I just sat in my car, holding that tamale, crying like a kid.
I don’t know what kind of year you’ve had, but I’ll tell you this: that family — working seasonal farm jobs, living in a van, undoubtedly with less than most of us — gave me more than roadside help. They gave me hope.
In the five months since, I’ve paid it forward. Changed tires. Given rides. Even drove someone 50 miles out of my way to catch a flight. I never accept money. I just say:
“Today you... tomorrow me.”
#HumanKindness #RealStories #TodayYouTomorrowMe #RoadStories
