OK, boys and girls. Gather round. I will try to make this short and sweet but it is very important and I am being very serious here.

Saturday morning I dropped my wife off at the airport and, since I was already out, I went for breakfast. From there, I drove north on the I-15 (that’s a freeway for those of you outside of the US) and proceeded to Caliente NV on what I thought was the “Loneliest Road in America”. I found out it is not, but to me, it should be. You travel through a desolate landscape for 100’s of miles to reach old mining towns that have few inhabitants, if any. I was alone, no water, no food, just my cell phone to connect me to the outside world when there was a connection! By 4:30 at night I still had not made it to Caliente so I decided to turn around just north of Alamo NV. When I got back onto the I-15 and started home, my check engine light went on. I figured it was because I hadn’t changed the oil in about 6,000 miles. Well, when I got to my exit, at the top of the hill there is a stop light. I slowed for it and my car died. I was in the middle of the exit ramp with cars whipping around me and just my emergency blinkers on. It was 7:30 at night and dark. Of all the people passing me, driving around me, and looking but otherwise ignoring me, a white Mercedes pulled to the side of the road and a Hispanic male came out to push me to the side. I thanked him as he drove off and then I called my brother-in-law to come help me. While I was waiting for him, a bus from one of the hotels pulled up, the doors opened, and another Hispanic male offered me a bottle of water. My brother-in-law finally showed up almost an hour later and towed me home. My mechanic will be coming by to tow the car tomorrow.

Now, imagine what would it would have been like if the car had broken down on the way to Caliente? Last weekend we were in Paso Robles and on the way home passed through about 200 miles of desert. What if the car had broken down then? During the heat of the day?

Anyway, that is my cautionary tale. Take care of your car. When you go on a trip of any distance, take plenty of water and food.

And isn’t it interesting that of all the people who saw me in need- male, female, white, African-American, Asian, Muslim, etc. only Hispanics stopped to helped me. So my message? To all you Hispanics, I love you! To everyone else, I hope you meet one of these guys whenever you need help!