The best kind of car trouble

By Cortney Philip

HappyNews Citizen Journalist

My friend ran into Denny's one night practically in tears because she had two flat tires, no money, and was forty-five minutes from home and work.

"Is your car still in the road?" I asked. "No," she replied. "I hit something and my tires started deflating as I was pulling into the parking lot."

"You're so lucky," I told her. "Everyone has car trouble. It's inevitable. But this is the best kind of car trouble."

She looked incredulous, so I explained to her that she was forty-five minutes away from home and broke, but her car trouble began just as she pulled into a place full of friends who wanted to lend her money, spare tires, labor and a couch to sleep on.

Her fortunate situation gave us all pause, and we realized that we'd all had similar "good fortune" to break down in the right place at the right time. As we shared our stories, I couldn't help but think this was the everyday sort of thing that makes us feel lucky to be alive, so I thought I'd pass on a couple of our anecdotes to HappyNews readers.

This was my story: Several years ago, I was driving to my political science final exam during what turned out to be the snowstorm of the year. The rear-wheel drive tank on roller skates (disguised as an '89 Chevy Astro) that I drove skidded into a ditch and would not skid back out. I dug, but I was no match for the depth of the ditch and the limited capabilities of my vehicle.

Meanwhile, the snow piled up and the tow service promised a three-hour wait. I had very little gas, so running the engine for the heater quickly ceased to be a wise option. Resigning myself to failing my class and being cold for several hours, I pulled out a book and settled in. Before I could finish one page, someone stopped and asked if I needed a cell phone. "No thanks," I answered. "I already called for a tow."

I went back to my book. Not two minutes later, someone else stopped to ask if I needed a cell phone. "No thanks," I shook my head, puzzled at the kindness of strangers. "Help's on the way."

Again, I tried to read, and again someone stopped. This time it was a man in a very large truck. "Can I pull you out?" he asked. "Um.I hope so," I grinned. He attached chains from the back of his truck to the front of my van and gunned his engine while I steered the dead weight behind him. Lo and behold, my van was out of that ditch in no time. The man refused money and barely acknowledged my thanks before he drove off into the blizzard, perhaps to help others as "unlucky" as me. I made it to my exam with enough time to finish and do well.

But the best car trouble story came from an old college friend. He had signed up for a one-week, all-day class in Traverse City through Eastern Michigan University. Now my buddy will jump on any excuse to take a road trip, whether he has money to go or not. This time, he definitely could not afford the journey. He made it to Traverse City just fine, but he only had $10 for gas to get home.

Running on empty, Murphy's Law went into effect. He got a flat tire. The town in which my friend broke down had a small casino. He thought he'd try his luck and play a hand of poker with his last $10. Before he knew it, my friend won $80, which was just enough to get his tire fixed, buy gas for the rest of the trip and eat a decent meal.

The more my group of friends talked, the more I realized that while car trouble is a hassle, we had all been extremely fortunate to have it when and where we did. We don't believe any of us to be particularly lucky, yet we'd all had the best kind of car trouble: the kind when luck smiles down and everything works out better than we previously believed possible.

This story was produced by a HappyNews Citizen Journalist, Cortney Philip. Philip lives in Ypsilanti, MI and works as a freelance writer.

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