Car Fire

The car was on fire!  I was sitting in an automatic car wash with the water and brushes doing their thing and I was looking out to the street.  The car at the street with the just-started engine fire looked pretty old – my guess was a mid-70’s Ford LTD, but the exterior looked immaculate, but that was changing quickly.  The driver of the car was outside watching from a safe distance.

Over the next ten minutes, police arrived and then the fire trucks.  In the mean time, the fire melted the front tires to the ground and everything from the engine bay to the back seat burned.  As a last second thought, I saw the owner pull the license tag from the back end of the car as the hoses from the fire truck were unrolled.  Fortunately the fire was put out before the gas tank became engulfed too. 

Traffic on the main road had been stopped and those of us who had been in line for the car wash were likewise waiting for the firefighters to finish putting out the flames.  After a while I got to talking with one of the car wash customers waiting with the rest of us.  He had gone over and talked to the owner.  The owner had just bought the car yesterday.   He had paid $700 for the car and he had been headed to work when the car died.  When he tried to restart the car, he heard a “pop” and began seeing smoke almost immediately.  That was when he also saw flames and exited the car.

When I got home later that afternoon, I couldn’t help but think about the poor guy.  I decided I wanted to meet him and see if I could help.  I called the local non-emergency police phone number and after about three hours the police called me back with a name (Brian) and the name of a restaurant where he worked as a dishwasher.

Three days later I visited the restaurant and asked if I could speak to the owner.  The owner wasn’t available, but I did speak with the supervisor (Candice) and the General Manager (Jim).  I told them what I had seen with Brian’s car and about our Pay-It-Forward campaign.  Both knew the PIF story well, but were floored that people actually were carrying it out.  They said that Brian was an excellent employee and was very dependable, even since the car fire.  I told them about the PIF Foundation and what Paradigm employees were doing to become personally involved in helping others.  I told them how I planned to help Brian purchase a replacement car, but was concerned that he might have trouble finding a reliable car for the money he had previously spent.

I met Brian the following day.  I was simply introduced by the General Manager as someone Brian might like to meet.   In getting to know him I learned that he was also struggling with other family issues involving his two young children.  Fortunately he had family here locally to support him.  I explained the Pay-It-Forward concept to Brian.  Brian knew the movie and he told me a story about his assistance given to strangers with car trouble in the past. 

I then told Brian I had seen what happened to his car in front of the car wash.  Brian gave me the details of his purchase and how he was currently borrowing the car of a friend.  At that point I told Brian I wanted to help him be able to buy a replacement car.  I gave him a check for $1,000.  Brian was completely surprised and thanked me more times than I can remember.  He just couldn’t believe it. 

I then explained that in paying it forward I hoped that he would one day go out and help at least three other people with situations where he saw he could meet their needs.  He said he would definitely do that and much more.

At that point Jim and Candice came back over to our table and explained that the restaurant staff had also been collecting funds for Brian.  They would be providing additional money to help make sure Brian’s next car would be better than the first.  Truly amazing!!  I later had several restaurant staff (I guess the word had gotten out) come and validate that what we were doing was really something special.  Even my waiter tried to “Pay-It-Forward” and purchase my lunch.

As a postscript, it turned out that Candice attends a church where her brother is the pastor. Candice told her brother about Pay-It-Forward and what had happened at the restaurant.  As a result, Candice is now figuring out how the church can sponsor Pay-It-Forward so that the congregation can go out into the community (like Paradigm employees) to make a difference in the lives of others.

You never know how the seeds you have a chance to plant will bear fruit.

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