Let’s hope this isn’t new trend in offering aid

So there we were, driving from Priest Lake toward Priest River on a cloudy (and sometimes rainy) afternoon early in June, when we came upon a fallen tree in the opposite lane. A man had stopped his truck in that lane, put his flashers on and was struggling to do something about the tree – all alone.

We don’t know how long he had been there.

We pulled off on our side of the road, put our flashers on, and my husband got out to give the man a hand. It was a big hunk of a rotted tree, and heavy. The other man had some tie-down straps, not really sufficient for the job, but that’s all that was available. He and Bruce tried to tie up the log and attach it to his trailer hitch so it could be pulled over to the side of the road. The straps broke.

Next they tried to roll it off the road, but there were the stubs of broken limbs on the log, making it difficult to roll. Another car stopped behind us, and two young women got out to help. That provided enough muscle power so the log could be pushed/rolled off the road. The main trunk, from which the hunk of the tree had snapped off, was still leaning precariously over the shoulder, but there was nothing that could be done about that at the moment.

Some of the tree debris remained on the road, but it probably wasn’t a hazard to navigation. And at least no one would come barreling north and smack into the downed tree at 60 mph. If a high-profile vehicle came by and swerved onto the shoulder – well, that overhanging trunk would have been another story. We called 911 to report the tree and the location as we left, but no one answered.

Here’s what’s interesting to me. Yes, the first man stopped as did the two young women. But in the 20 minutes we were working on the road, several cars, trucks and one big commercial vehicle threaded their way around the road hazard – and our parked cars – and kept on their way. Maybe the drivers thought the situation was well in hand, but no one paused to inquire. And until the final two minutes, when the women arrived and the last efforts were made at shoving, it clearly wasn’t in hand at all. The two men were struggling on their own.

I’m surprised because normally people are so kind and so helpful – especially when traveling. And in rural areas, which this was, it’s usually even more so.

I think back to some other experiences. While driving in rural Florida the tire pressure light lit up on the dashboard of the rental car I was driving. I found a gas station and was having trouble with the air hose there. A man at the next pump came over and checked all the tires for me, inflating the ones that were low, made small talk about rental cars and wished me a happy day as he drove off. I saw a teenager stop in the parking lot at a home improvement store in Spokane Valley to help a man struggling to lift a heavy item into the bed of his truck. An elderly woman in line ahead of me at the grocery store where I often shop asked the checker to call her a cab. From their conversation it was clear she was a known customer there, so I felt safe in volunteering to drive her home. And I did.

I don’t want to make more of the Priest Lake event than it was. After all, there were people who pulled over to address the situation, but so many more just passed by.

I hope it’s not the start of a new trend.