Around the Bend: ‘Greater Good’ award could promote random acts of kindness

Although the two ladies he helped weren’t about to burn to death, they might well have been in danger of eventually freezing. One of the women commented that a lot of people drove right past them before Goessens pulled his truck over.

By DOROTHY COX
The Trucker Staff

10/2/2009

Thank goodness for the Truckload Carriers Association’s Highway Angel program. If it weren’t for their search for heroic truckers, no one would know about drivers like Larry Goessens, who stopped to change a flat for two elderly ladies who were stuck in a ditch in the midst of a snow storm last February.

I think drivers like Goessens deserve kudos not just from the trucking industry but from the general population as well because our society seems to be stuck in an “it’s all about me” mode.

Witness rapper/songwriter Kanye West’s rude grab the other night at the MTV awards in which he jerked the microphone away from young country songwriter/singer Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech for Best Female Video award. West then proceeded to rant that Beyoncé should have won, instead, taking all Swift’s time on stage, ruining her big moment and embarrassing her. (To her credit Beyoncé gave up her time behind the microphone for Video of the Year and called Swift back on stage to finish her interrupted thank-you speech.)

West later — too much later — called Swift and apologized. But my point is this: what is wrong with us that we can’t seem to show human kindness or even common courtesy, anymore, whether it’s on a TV stage or on the road?

Why do we think it’s our right to be rude and express our opinion at someone else’s expense?

I think of the senator who yelled “you lie” at the president during Mr. Obama’s speech recently. I was taught that whether or not you agree with the person’s politics you respect the presidential office.

I was struck by Goessens’ kindness because it wasn’t as dramatic as say a fiery car rescue in which at any moment a mini van with a hurt child inside is about to go up in flames.

Although the two ladies he helped weren’t about to burn to death, they might well have been in danger of eventually freezing. One of the women commented that a lot of people drove right past them before Goessens pulled his truck over.

He not only pulled their car out of the ditch, he drove to the next town, had the (also flat) spare repaired and then replaced the flat with the spare. He invested his valuable time and effort to help these ladies in what may have seemed at the moment a thankless task.

Highway Angel spokeswoman Deborah Sparks was right when she said the Highway Angel program is the best public relations trucking can have.

Maybe it’s time to take the Good Samaritan award, dust it off, rebrand it and somehow make it popular, again, to show kindness and courtesy to our fellow men and women.

I’m not talking about all the hoopla of a reality show that gives do-gooders a new home or awards unsuspecting community activists with money from a millionaire.

I think sometimes those shows get caught up in their own hype. What about the guy that always gives his seat to the older lady on the bus or the young woman waiting in line at the airport who waves a sickly Vietnam vet ahead of her?

What about the trucker who lets the other guy go to the fuel pump ahead of him [or her]?

It may not seem like it matters much, but to the recipient of the kindness it does.

And it can’t hurt truckers’ PR, either.

Many — not all but many — truckers will agree that they’re sometimes their own worst enemy, what with throwing trash on the ground, leaving out urine bottles at truck stops or alongside the road and going into establishments sporting a huge gut and a shirt two sizes too small.

Drivers say their cab is their living room, or bedroom, as it were, that they need to be comfortable and don’t have the time to change when going into the truck stop to take a shower or grab a bite to eat or to use the facilities.

I understand that rationale. I do. But it sounds a bit like the “it’s all about me” mode kicking in.

What happened to the greater good, the image of the industry? Does anyone besides the military believe in the greater good anymore? Not just believe in it but carry it out? I know it’s hard to think like that when you’re overworked, underpaid and unappreciated. But if you start helping a few strangers now and then, it might turn your mood around and help you out down the road. I’m not talking karma, here, I’m talking about reaping what you sow.

We often think about giving up our lives in the context of dying for our country.  How about dying to our immediate needs once or twice a week to prefer the other guy, whether it’s at the fuel line or the grocery line? That’s also giving your life; it’s just a little piece at a time.

I suggest we start a Greater Good award and I nominate Mr. Goessens as the first recipient. Who’s next?        

Dorothy Cox can be reached for comment at dlcox@thetrucker.com.

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