Skip to content

Robert Barron column: Right place at the right time

Things don’t usually go so well for me in these situations
robert-12
Robert's column. (Citizen file photo)

I’ve never had much luck in my life.

I’m of Irish descent but the phrase “luck of the Irish” has never played a part in pretty much anything I’ve ever done.

I’ve never won a lottery (of course, I guess you would have to buy a ticket), never been left hoards of money from distant relatives who passed away, and I’ve rarely been “in the right place at the right time” for something to go really well for me.

When it comes to cars and motorcycles, mine have always waited until the most inconvenient time to have engine troubles, like when I’m travelling down a dark and lonely road in the middle of the night (which has happened to me numerous times).

That’s why I was pleasantly surprised when a good Samaritan and his wife came to my assistance when I blew my front tire on the passenger side recently while travelling through Nanaimo.

I had struck a curb (or something; I never saw what it was) on a busy road in the city and my car started flashing warnings that the pressure in the tire was dropping rapidly, and by the time I managed to pull off into a residential neighbourhood and stop the car, the tire was as flat as a pancake.

I hopped out and stared at it for a few minutes trying to figure out how I was going to handle the situation.

I haven’t changed a tire in almost 30 years.

I know how to do it, but newer cars these days have special sockets that are required to remove tires, including the space-saver in my trunk which I haven’t laid eyes on since I bought the car in 2023.

I found the socket in my glove compartment, but I couldn’t locate the wrench part of the tool.

I decided to try to jack up the car and worry about getting the tire off after that, but the car had sunk pretty low to the ground as a result of the flat and I couldn’t fit the jack in place.

I wondered if the engineers who had designed my car actually thought about that scenario at the time.

Anyway, by this time, I was thinking that maybe I would have to call BCAA for assistance, but I’m not a member so I figured that could cost me plenty in time and money.

I just stood there wondering if I would ever have any luck, when a young man and his wife, Derrick and Natasha who live in the house next to where I came to a stop, approached me asking what the problem was.

I told them what had happened and they said that in the three years they have lived there, at least one car a week limps into the exact location where I was with one or even two flats related to the evil curb, and Derrick said the city should do something about it.

But Derrick, who is a house painter and turned out to be quite handy around cars, went back to his house and returned with a commercial jack that slipped under the car and lifted it with no difficulty in just a few seconds,

He then found the wrench part of the socket I was looking for buried under the space saver in the trunk, which made me feel rather foolish.

Derrick had the flat tire off and the space saver on in just a few minutes and lowered the car back down to the ground.

He was so fast at the task that it reminded of tire changes at the Indianapolis 500 where time is of the essence.

Derrick never asked me to help (probably because he realized that I would just get in his way) and he wanted nothing for his assistance other than a handshake.

I was amazed.

I was on the side of the road for less than 10 minutes before the problem was quickly dealt with, thanks to the two good Samaritans.

My luck that day was to continue.

I took a look at the flat tire when I got home and saw that it was too damaged from the ordeal with the curb to be repaired.

But I’ve had a set of almost brand new tires in the crawl space under my house from another car I owned for several years and they looked to be the same size.

I went to Canadian Tire and crossed my fingers that the tire would fit and, surprising to me, it did and the whole cost of the incident was less than $50.

It certainly could have been a lot worse.

As mentioned, things don’t usually go so well for me in these situations.

Anyway, I plan to visit Derrick and Natasha soon with a big bottle of wine to show my appreciation.

For the first time I can recall, I can actually say that I was in the right place at the right time.



Robert Barron

About the Author: Robert Barron

Since 2016, I've had had the pleasure of working with our dedicated staff and community in the Cowichan Valley.
Read more