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I work a weird night shift schedule, so I find myself doing a lot of grocery shopping and such later at night, because that's when I'm awake (and also the stores are less crowded)
One time I was heading back to my car, it was dark, probably around 10pm, the lot was mostly empty. A Hispanic guy with a heavy accent was flagging me down from a couple rows over, asking if I had jumper cables, so I drove my car over and gave him a jump. Shared some brief chitchat over whether we thought it was his battery or his alternator, shook hands, and we went on our separate ways.
Another time, I was walking into the store, and stopped in the fire lane was a car, with a handful of younger black people trying to get it started with a jump starter. It looked like they knew more or less what they were doing, so I went in and did my grocery shopping. They were still there when I came out, so it was pretty clear that the power pack they had didn't quite have enough juice to do the trick, so I grabbed my cables and headed over to lend a hand. Again, got their car started, shot the shit with them a bit, and went about my night.
Neither one was a big deal, I'd hope that anyone would do the same for me.
But when I think about those situations, empty parking lots, late at night, people of color, I think about how many people probably would have just ignored them and not lent a hand.
Guess I should have been filming, I could have a political career.
But the real moral of the story is if you have a car, go buy some jumper cables. They're not that expensive, they last basically forever, and sooner or later you or someone else is going to need a jump and you'll be ready to save the day. When I bought my first car at 18, my first stop on my way home from the dealership was to buy a set of jumper cables and some other basic emergency supplies to throw in my trunk. I probably find myself using them at least a couple times a year. Still have those same cables going on a decade later. Probably one of the best purchases I've ever made.
