Bad Samartitan

Yesterday, my wife and I had the insightful idea that we would get up early, get breakfast and get a jump on our Christmas shopping and Grocery Shopping. We got up, got dressed and drove out to the IHOP in nearby Ardmore...

After a delicious meal...we ventured into nearby Wynnewood and began shopping at Old Navy and Bed,Bath and Beyond....While there, we went to the nearby Giant and did some grocery shopping...

Mind you..We were aware that it might snow and be mixed with rain....Might being the operative word here....

I wasn't dressed for this...I had on a sweat suit and sneakers....I should have had on some Timberlands...

We got ready to go home and snow was dropping like nobody's business...

I decided to avoid the main highway and take the side roads...Which I usually do...
We got about three miles from the exit that would have lead us into Philadelphia and
I noticed that the car in front of us was stuck...

He had his blinkers on and his car would not budge... The young man got out and began to push, while his girlfriend steered the car.....

I attempted to drive around and then my car began to slide...and worse!!! Slide backward!!  I put the car in reverse and then drive.....My foot was practically through the floor and........nothing!  The car was just pushing snow and ice into the environment...

The car behind me slid across the road and did the same thing...Now you had three cars stuck and sliding... To make matters worse.. Several cars heading toward us, now found themselves having to stop.

A number of cars behind us wisely turned around and went the other way...Then this guy drove up in a Pathfinder with four wheel drive...

This is the kind of guy....Who you think is coming to the rescue.....but  wish had stayed where-ever he was...He's yelling at all of us that were stuck and sliding to cut our engines...Then he gets out of his car barking instructions and chiding everybody for not having snow tires on...(I'm surprised he didn't chide us for not having cars with four wheel drive like his.)

This guy immediately turned me off... It's bad enough that we are all in this situation and it's not like we wanted to be in this situation or set out to be...but now we have to hear a lecture from DAD!

It was after all Sunday.....I sat in my car and kept my mouth shut....My saint of a wife was outside trying to explain to him what had happened... He wasn't hearing it...He was already convinced that he was the only sane person in the world and that all of us were slackers for not be prepared like he was...

Ever hear of the ugly American?  This is the type of guy who goes to other countries and insults the people ,he is supposedly trying to help and winds up getting boiled in a pot of stew...

I said nothing...I was a good Christian yesterday....There was a time in my life when I would have told him where to go and what he could do when he got there...I just prayed that he didn't come to my window yelling at me...He had already asked one of the motorist if they had been drinking...Glad it wasn't me...He's alive this morning because it was not me...

He did make a remark to my wife about why did I have music playing in my car at a time like this.... I guess I hadn't anticipated being graced by his presence....
Incredibly...after five or ten minutes...He threw his hands up in the air and declared...

"You people are incredible...I-I-I can't deal with this...I'm getting the hell out of here." and got in his Pathfinder and pulled off!!!

All of us stranded motorists looked at each other like...."Was he for real?"

Within a few minutes...a real Good Samaritan appeared....He patiently guided all three of us out of our predicament and directed traffic and got back in his vehicle...My hat is off to him...As for that nut who appeared first....Get a grip....He was entirely too wound up...The situation did not call for that....

I am thankful to have made it home safely without any other major incidents...

Staying warm in Philadelphia....