'Hoosier Hospitality' a godsend for motorist

To the Editor:

These days, most stories reported on tend to focus on the dark side of human kind.

After hearing these countless tales of murder, animal and child abuse, crime, etc., I'm the first to admit that I've become very cynical about the nature of our society. My belief that there are truly good people out in the world was becoming bleak -- ironically until this past Friday the 13th.

While traveling alone from Buffalo, N.Y. (where I currently live) to my hometown in Sullivan County for a wedding, I pulled off I-70 West at the Greencastle-Cloverdale exit to fill up my car with gas.

To my horror, my fuel pump went out at the bottom of the ramp and I was stuck at the stoplight in the middle of traffic.

I'm sure this has happened many times to many out-of-town travelers but in my case, I was totally panicked since I was all by myself, had my dog in the car, knew no one in the area and it was literally 100 degrees outside.

Not but five minutes after my car had died, three wonderful local gentlemen stopped, pushed my car to the side of the road out of traffic, tried to jump my car, offered the name of a reputable towing and service company and stayed with me until the tow truck came to get my car.

Now if that's not "Hoosier Hospitality" at its finest, I don't know what is.

It brings tears to my eyes each time I think of the kindness that was shown to me that afternoon. I am so grateful to those three men who came to the rescue of a total stranger from New York just because it was the right thing to do.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

I would also like to thank Officer Minnock of the Cloverdale Police Department for assisting me (and my dog). He was very kind and represented the force excellently. Special thanks also to Steele's Auto & Wrecker Service for getting my car up and running in no time.

Many think of Friday the 13th as unlucky. But I have to say, even though the odds weren't exactly in my favor that day, I consider myself lucky that I had such wonderful people help me and that my belief in the goodness of humans was restored.

Megan Wagner

Buffalo, NY