Natalie’s Blog

You see a couple stranded in the dark of the night, what do you do?

You’re hesitant of course, reluctant to help them because you never know when you’ll encounter the next Zodiac, etc. It’s just not safe to assist strangers this day in age. Sometimes it’s not even safe to assist people that you think you know well.

Picture this.

It’s 10PM and you’re going to take some photographs of the sky at a lake. It’s on the outskirts of town and you don’t go there very often, but of course you hear rumors. Imagine you’re at Cunningham Lake. While driving to your normal spot you pass a man in a Mercedes flagging you down. You stop because, hey, he’s in a Mercedes, can’t possibly be a serial killer, right? The man asks if you have jumper cables because a couple is on the hill and their truck won’t start. You don’t have any and reluctantly continue without it really going through your mind that you’ll be meeting these people shortly because they’re parked near your spot.

You pull up, park, turn the engine off and the inevitable happens. A woman approaches and asks, “Do you have any jumper cables?” You reply with the same answer you gave to the previous person because, well, you don’t have any.

She then asks something you weren’t expecting. You assume you can loan her your cell phone so that she can call someone, but she doesn’t. She asks out of desperation if there is any way, any way at all that she can be given a ride somewhere to buy some jumper cables. This puts you completely on edge and your defenses skyrocket.

“No, I wouldn’t feel comfortable with that at all. I just can’t,” you reply.

“But, please, he’ll stay here at the truck if you like, and just I can go with you. Please?”

After a few minutes of this, and thinking through your head over and over again, “This could be the last night of my life,” you reluctantly agree.

They moved to Omaha from Hawaii and didn’t really have a lot of friends in the area, nobody that she could call to assist her. I should have told her to call a cab, I should have told her to call a tow truck, but for some unknown reason, I agreed.

As she got in the car and I started it up, the thought kept running through my head, “How stupid! How stupid are you!!!”

At this point I have sent a text message to Tomek letting him know what’s going on, but, unbeknownst to me he wouldn’t read that text message until hours later.

We began down State Street headed towards WalMart because I refused to take her to a gas station to buy jumper cables. My honest answer, the gas station would rip her off. We drove quietly introducing ourselves, her name is Nancy. Their truck had broken down once before in Carter Lake and I had joked how they needed to stop going to lakes.

We got to WalMart, she went inside and came out about ten minutes later with the cheapest jumper cables she could find. At this point I was put very much at ease that, well, maybe she was telling the truth after all.

After the short drive back, I pulled my car up next to theirs and we proceeded to start their truck. She jumped in the driver’s side and I could hear the truck dinging when the door was open. I got pretty damn suspicious at this point and asked her to crank it once. She did, and, low and behold, just a small snap and the dinging ceased.

We connected vehicles and the truck started on the first turn. I felt so much better that this night was about to be over.

I told you that story so that I can tell you this story.

I listen to Coast to Coast AM whenever I get the chance. One of my most favorite guests is Glynnis McCants. She’s a numerologist and believes strongly in the vibration of numbers and that they effect our lives every day and advises that we should always plan drastic decisions around numbers as they play a huge roll in our outcome.

I’m always looking for ways to help out with getting some extra money, and she preaches over and over again to write the number 8 on a piece of paper and stick it in your purse or your wallet, or wherever you normally carry your cash. Mine’s my back pocket. She calls this The Power of the Number 8.

After months (and I mean months) of procrastinating such a tiny task, this afternoon I finally did it just before leaving work. I grabbed a Post-It Note, drew the number 8 on it and stuck it in my back pocket, completely forgetting about it.

We pulled the jumper cables from the vehicles and Nancy walked towards me and said, “Thank you for your kindness, we can only hope someone else helps you in the future when you need it,” and hands me a $20 bill.

Yeah, $20 isn’t a lot of money, but this was a short 40 minute trip to WalMart and back that I didn’t even ask for in return. I never once expected this.

On Glynnis’ web site you’ll read about people who suddenly get checks for thousands of dollars or a great job promotion, but I truly think this was the work of the Number 8.

I was also given the opportunity to help a fellow human being in need of assistance. Although hesitant, I think I made the right (however stupid) choice tonight. And for that I was rewarded, no matter how small the reward.

I feel in a way I owe them an apology for being overly cautious about the situation, but I know they understood where I was coming from and that they have forgiven me already, even if they don’t know it.

They left shortly after getting their truck started. We only exchanged names and will never speak to each other again. But I hope they know that I am thinking deeply about them as I write this.