This is a story of other people's random kindness to me.
I was driving on the freeway when I saw a sign warning drivers that chains would be required to cross the mountain pass up ahead. I had never driven with chains before and didn't own any, so I pulled off the freeway and bought a set. It took quite some time to get the chains on, and I had to drive very slowly for the next 15 miles as I was going through the mountains. The moment I got to a spot where it was no longer snowing, but raining instead, I pulled over and took the chains off so I could resume driving at a more normal speed.
After about 30 minutes of driving, I suddenly came upon another snowy, icy patch of road. I reduced my speed, but then as I came over a hill, I lost control of my car and spun out into a snowdrift in the center median with the front of my car facing the other side of the freeway.
I tried to reverse out of that position, but the ground was frozen and my wheels kept spinning. I thought of breaking some tree branches and placing them under my tires, but it was so cold outside that my hands weren't working properly. I got inside the car and called 911 to call AAA. I didn't have my card on me, so I called my sister to get the AAA number.
As I was on the phone with my sister, a Russian man comes up to my window and says hello. Before I can say too much, he's already starting to push my car. His three sons are outside pushing too! I hand off the phone to a friend in the car and also start helping to push the car.
All of us were shivering in the snow, and having a great deal of difficulty getting the car out. It was past midnight and they easily could have decided that AAA would handle the situation after our initial attempts failed. Yet, they stayed with us for nearly 45 minutes as we kept trying different things to get the car out of the snow, insistent that they wouldn't leave until we were freed.
Throughout the whole experience, the Russian man and his sons were so happy to be helping, and not at all because they felt sorry for us. It was so nice because we were a little concerned about being stuck in the freezing weather at such a late hour, and their jovial attitude changed the whole dynamic of the situation and lifted our spirits.
After nearly 45 minutes of toil when our car was finally free, they didn't even stick around long enough for me to get their names. They just ran toward their truck, slid a bit on the ice, and yelled back 'Drive Slowly' in their Russian accent, like true smile heroes!
