Our I-15 Mishap: A Story in Pictures

There are some singularly significant events that take place in a person's life in which they "wake up" to the reality of some kind of universal truth. This was one such experience. It is the story of four friends who decided to take a road trip, during which they almost lost faith in humanity and brotherly kindness. Sound dramatic? Just wait...

This last weekend, I was with my cousin Molly and our friends Joe and Jeremy. We were on our way to St. George to go biking and hiking for the weekend when Molly noticed her gas light was on. Thinking she could make it to the next city, she kept driving. But pretty soon, the car began slowing down.

Joe and I had just woken up from naps in the back seat. I asked what was going on and Jeremy grinned. "We're out of gas," he announced.

I caught Joe's priceless reaction.

The car began to coast along the side of the road. Hazard lights were turned on and Joe got out. He started pushing but it soon became painfully obvious just how far we were from a gas station. Nearly 20 miles.

So he began to try to get people to stop.... without success.

Molly whipped out her beauty queen wave hoping to play the feminine card and elicit a little sympathy. No one cared. It wasn't a huge deal seeing as we weren't necessarily pressed for time and were all together... we made it fun... but it became more and more frusterating as we saw the minutes tick away because no one would stop despite our waving and calling and pleading.

Fifteen minutes passed. No one would stop. Twenty minutes. Still no one. Twenty five. Nada. Niente. Zip. Zilch.

Finally we saw a white car pull over and Joe ran to meet them then drove off into the distance, leaving the rest of us alone. We sat and waited. And waited. And waited and waited. Jeremy decided to take matters into his own hands.

He unhooked his bike from the back of the car...

... and hooked it to the front...

... and began to tow the car himself.

We watched as the cars passed laughing and pointing... yet no one stopped. It had been thirty minutes. Then forty. No one stopped to see if we were in trouble. No one stopped.

Jeremy continued to pull with all his might when all of a sudden, disaster struck.

His bike chain broke under the strain.

It was looking a bit grim. We were loosing enthusiasm (see my right thumb).

We were still, however, trying to remain optimistic.

But more time passed and I became desperate. I began to pull. Yet, strong though I am, I simply was not strong enough.

Forty five minutes. Fifty. We saw some animals in a nearby field and Jeremy went to try to persuade them to help, but the barbed wire discouraged him.

Morale was getting low. It was looking more and more hopeless. We finally gave in and broke out the sun chips and fruit roll-ups, consigned to our fate. We were going to die on the side of I-15.

Molly enjoyed the last moments she had left with a batman fruit roll-up.

We talked about our lives and our memories, reminiscing and sighing sadly at the thought of dying so young. Joe and Jeremy were only 24... Molly and I a mere 23 years of age. Our strength began to fade and we had to lean on the car for support.

When suddenly we saw something in the distance. It was a white car. It got bigger and whiter as it got closer. A white Jeep Cherokee driving their way. Inside was Joe and Bill, Jackie, little Sammy and her dog Sassy.

They pulled over and offered their assistance. Jackie, Bill, Sammy, and Sassy drove Joe nearly twenty miles to the gas station and then all the way back. The car was given enough gas to get us on our way. Jackie, Bill, and Sammy didn't ask for anything. They accepted some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and that was it. But their selflessness was amazing.

We finally made it to St. George and went to In n' Out, happy that we had successfully overcome our near-death experience. We ate ravenously.

It was Jeremy's first time tasting an In n' Out burger. He almost didn't live to see this moment. Cheered by the idea of living long and healthy lives, we had a great weekend in Southern Utah.

We visited Grandpa Gary and Grandma Di and had a grand ole' time.

But I realized through this experience how often we overlook others. Throughout this entire hour-long ordeal, Bill and Jackie were the only ones to stop and offer their help. They went entirely out of their way to offer some assistance. They were not a wealthy family... just good people doing a good deed for a bunch of BYU students they didn't know. I watched countless other cars pass us, laughing at the sight of Jeremy towing us on his bike or me pulling the car behind me... but they just stared and drove past. People in nice SUVs or sedans who probably weren't in a huge hurry... but they pretended not to see us or pretended not to have time. I realized that I do that sometimes as well. We got back in the car after Joe put some gas in the tank and he told us a little bit about Jackie, Bill, and Sammy and we marvelled at their kindness and all vowed that we'd be better about stopping to help others.

So that is my new goal. Go out of my way to help people who look like they need it just because it's the right thing to do and it's something I would want if I was in trouble.

It makes a good story and was a great weekend.