Repaying a favor

Repaying a favor

[Joan Mitchell]

When I was a 15-year-old girl, my family and I were on our way back from
Portsmouth, Ohio to Columbus when the car started shaking and swerving.  Low
and behold we had a flat tire and to make it better it was down pouring
outside.  My Dad wasn't in very good shape but being the only man, he went
to unload the trunk and fix the tire.  I remember being in the car as the
rain beat down for an incredibly long time.  Suddenly the car dropped with a
bang.  Dad had said that the jack had broken and we were stuck.  This was
before the onslaught of cell phones.   I complained and Mom cried as Dad
just shook his head in disgust.  That's when this 4-wheel drive truck pulled
along side. Rolling down his passenger window, the driver asked if we needed
help.  
  My Dad said, "Yes, if you got a jack."   
  "No problem." The driver replied.
With that, the two of them went to fix the tire.  I knew it was late, about
1:00am or so and still raining cats and dogs.  Dad held a newspaper over the
man as he worked changing the tire.  Soon the man finished.
  Dad asked him "what he owed him."  
  The man replied, "Nothing, just do the same for someone else."
I remember hearing that as Dad tried to persuade him to take something.  The
man just waved his hand and hoped into his truck.  

  That was one of those old childhood memories that kind of sticks with you,
and a memory was all it was until yesterday.  

  I work in a small company in downtown Columbus, and we have a computer guy
who thinks he knows it all.  He often snaps at us when our PC's don't work.
  "Get up and I'll get it, I don't have all day." He'll snap.
  Well his day came with some virus that was going around hit.  I remember
him running around yelling, "Who did this, I told you not to open any
strange mail!"   After about 2 hours of downtime our boss called one of our
venders and asked if he knew anybody that could help.  He did and in fifteen
minutes came Luke!  
  Luke was quiet and politely asked me if he could look at my PC.  
  "No problem." He said, "I'll have you fixed up shortly"
Within an hour he had us all fixed up, and was gathering his tools.  We
asked him what it was and where it came from.  He told us that is was one of
those viruses that comes from the Internet and attacks openings in the
computer.  
  Our resident computer guy spouted "Lucky, if it was them, I would be
yelling at them a week."
  Luke just shook his head in disapproval, and left.
  I asked my boss whom that Luke guy worked for; he told me that he was
unemployed.
Luke was laid off when his company closed and was doing side jobs until he
finds something.  I said that shouldn't take that long, he's good.  My Boss
exclaimed that he had a country accent and this is Columbus.

Now for the total change of subject, I can't believe that people of Columbus
are so shallow that an accent would keep a person from a job, I head of race
discrimination but accent discrimination.  Please, aren't we bigger than
that?  
P.S. Luke was also the guy who changed the family's tire those many years
ago.  So if this gets him a job then I repaid the favor.