Don't be afraid to help motorists in need | comment

The happiest story I've read so far this year starts off with a bad situation: a broken down car.

Stranded on the side of the road with a blown tyre, this person spent hours waiting for help. All the while, people zoomed by. Even tow trucks and roadside assistance vehicles streamed past. People stared but no one stopped.

Desperate, this person made a sign in their window that said "Need a jack" and offered money to anyone who would stop. No one did. Until, as they were about to give up, an old van pulls over and a man bounds out.

Just as they're making way, the tyre iron snaps. The man runs to the van, gives the broken tyre iron to his wife, who speeds off to buy another one. She returns and they finish the job. Sweaty and filthy, but happy, the wife produces some water for them to wash their hands in.

The stranded man, grateful and indebted, tries to hand his rescuers some money, they refuse. He slips it to the wife quietly. They ask if he's had lunch, and when he says no, they give him some food. The girl tells him they are on their way to work, picking fruit.

The man thanks them again, astonished that a poor family, probably being paid by the hour, would take a few hours out of their day to help a total stranger. He walks back to the car, gets inside, opens the foil wrap on his food and what does he find inside? His money.

Today you...tomorrow me

He runs back to the van and the guy rolls his window down, and waves him away, still refusing to take it. He smiles and with what looks like the greatest concentration, says in English; 'Today you...tomorrow me".

It was a sentiment echoed in our State recently as mother nature tore a black hole through the earth. We responded with random acts of generosity. People waving firies away as they tried to pay for groceries, beers or hotel rooms. Communities rescuing wildlife, housing friends, sheltering neighbours.

It's proof of why our state still feels like a big old country town; because when it comes down to it - we are. We care about each other. We feel a responsibility to help each other. We're inherently good. And we have more heart than Phar Lap.

A lot of the time I feel like modern life has shifted to a default position of selfishness. We've put greed on a shiny pedestal and we're taught to be in everything for ourselves, to compete, seize the day, capture the castle, take what we can from wherever we can get it and then post it online to self-congratulate.

It's the little things that make a big difference

And with all this, are we any better off? Are we happier, healthier, richer? Not really.

Adelaide, you have started the year off with actions that seemed small but sent a powerful message: we are better when we help each other.

We promise ourselves at the start of each new year to be better but soon enough the feeling fades. Could we do more? Give more? Help more? Do something that would put another person in a better position?

It's the little things that make a big difference. From cooking your neighbour a meal, to stopping when someone needs a hand, to just saying hello when you pass someone on the street, goodwill has a far greater impact than we can ever know. People who are in need never forget the help they're given. And you never know when you'll be on the other side of it.