A few years ago, I was in the Las Vegas area for some business meetings. I had just finished a meeting in Henderson Nevada. I jumped in my rental car and started to drive but then noticed what felt like a flat tire and pulled over to the side of the road. Sure enough, one of my tires was flat. Since I was in a suit and had a AAA membership, I decided to call and get assistance. While on the phone a businessman in a suit, interrupted my call by asking, “do you need help?” I responded, “thank you but I am talking to AAA and they will help.” He then responded, “We don’t need them, I can help you.” He introduced himself as John, took off his jacket, and then proceeded to change my tire. I finished my call and tried to help him but he just responded, “I grew up in a family that did stuff like this so don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.” For the next 30 minutes, I got to know John who would not let me lift a finger to help. He finished the repair, told me he was happy to help, would not accept any money, and as quickly as he had appeared, he was gone. AAA arrived to find that I didn’t need any help.
For the next two months, I tried to track down John. He had told me he worked for an IT software company. On my next trip to Henderson, I visited the same business complex and found the phone number of the management company on a sign near the complex. I called the number and asked if they had any software companies leasing a space, and they gave me the name and building number of one software company in the complex. It was close by so I decided to walk to the building. I walked into the office and was greeted by one of the employees. I asked the employee if they had a John who worked for them. He responded, “yes, our CTO is named John.” I then explained I was looking for a software executive named John who had stopped to help me change a tire a few months ago and I want to thank him. He said he would contact the CTO and see if he was the person who helped me. He then left to find him. A few minutes later, a man entered the room and I instantly recognized him as the John who had helped me that day. He invited me into his office which turned into a very enjoyable and engaging discussion. I then asked him why had he stopped to help me that day and he responded, “I try to help people whenever I have the opportunity.” I guess I was the lucky recipient of John’s kindness and the opportunity he was looking for on that particular day.
