A Thank You

Dear Incident Management Man,

I forgot to ask your name. I'm sorry. You had reddish sort of hair and a scruffy face, and a nice smile. You already know that my tire blew out on I-15. You probably know better than anyone that that can be a little scary getting over to the emergency lane without losing control, and then trying to change a tire with cars zooming by at 60+ miles an hour. I was at least proud of myself that I knew how to change the tire, in theory. I had my jack out and my spare tire uncovered. Before you pulled up and found me, I had in fact attempted to loosen the lug nuts, but they were just too tight for my little biceps/my entire weight jumping on the wrench to come off. I had just finished calling my co-worker to come pick me up of the side of the freeway when you came to my rescue. You probably deal with alot of silly women who don't know how to change a tire, which I assume is why you asked me if I had a spare. I told you hurriedly I had everything I just couldn't get the tire off. Then you told me you would change it for me. I almost cried. You probably couldn't see my 3 month pregnant belly underneath my scrubs, you probably couldn't tell my blood pressure had risen exponentially in the past 15 minutes with the fear of being killed while kneeling next to my tire, you also probably couldn't tell that I had patients scheduled in 5 minutes, who in my line of work, do not wait. You just offered to help, as I'm sure you always do. You proceeded to jack up my car and take out my spare, then testing it you informed me you would go put a little more air in it. I had to hold my hands behind my back to keep me from hugging you. You removed the lug nuts with your handheld rotary, which made me feel like less of a wuss, if you still had to use a machine to loosen them, it wasn't just me. So thank you for that unspoken validation as well. With my spare tire safely back on and the rest of my car returned to solid ground you then offered one last piece of advice, use the shoulder to get my speed back up safely. I wasn't sure what was customary in these incidents, I briefly made a mental check if I had cash in my wallet to tip you with, just a couple ones, not enough. Is that even allowed? Would you take it? Most likely not, you seemed too professional. I thanked you as much as I could. But I want the world to know, okay, just my world, that you are my HERO! And to make it all the more dramatic, my unborn child's hero as well. Thank you!