Being Of Service...

I dropped my wife off at work this morning and had to go pick up her prescriptions at Rite Aid. When I parked in the parking lot I noticed this elderly man messing around with his car and saw that there was quite a bit of radiator fluid around on the ground. The man said to me "Can I ask you something?" I said "Sure." He led me to check out his engine, which already had the hood up, then he asked "What do you think will happen if I run my car without this?" He was referring to the missing cap on his radiator fluid reservoir. I said "Well, it might go like this..." and gestured with my hands like a geyser. He said, "I keep having to fill it up, and I lost the cap down in the engine there somewhere, there seems to be a problem with the radiator." I asked him "Do you have a couple of minutes?" He said, "Of course I do, I'm retired." I said, "Okay. Turn off your engine, let me pick up a couple things inside the store and let the engine cool off, and I'll see what I can do to help." After I came back out I threw my package in my car and came over to inspect. Sure enough, I saw the cap stuck down on one of the engine parts below. "I see it." I said. He asked, "Do you think we can knock it out with my cane?" I answered, "I think we might be able to.", but before he had a chance to grab his cane I was already in action. I grabbed his oil dipstick and pulled it out and stuck it down where the cap was laying and knocked into an open area below, grabbed it from beneath the car, and screwed it back on where it belonged. I found out he was from Missouri and visiting his daughter in West Hills and on his way to Torrance. We discussed his plan of action with the car. He decided he would drive the rest of the way to Torrance on Sepulveda Boulevard and had a mechanic out where he was going. I said good-bye to him and as I was leaving he asked, "So how much do I owe you?" I waved him off (like, "don't be silly") and said, "Nothing." Little did he know that me being of service for him was really not much, yet really made my day!! In fact, it was me who should be paying him!!! He doesn't even know how much this brightened my day!!!