This post is about an incident that made me proud of the person I've become and reminded me of the reason I love my job and working for an organization like Kaiser Permanente that continues to innovate with a goal of providing the highest quality of preventive care to our members.
I live in Monrovia, a charming city in the foothills of southern California. To avoid the commute traffic of our overcrowded freeways, I often take side streets to get home. On this particular Friday evening I noticed that traffic was extremely heavy, with cars backed up for about a two miles. As I slowly made my way up the hill to my house, I noticed an elderly man about 70 or so walking with a younger woman. My eyes caught a quick glimpse of a little red plastic object that the gentleman was carrying. Thirty yards up the street was an older model pick up truck with its hazard blinkers on. That's when the realization hit me that this older man had run out of gas and was attempting to walk down the hill to get gas from the chevron station about 2 miles down the road. Possible yes, going downhill wouldn't have been too hard, but the walk back UP the hill would have been difficult for anyone, not to mention someone in his seventies. Without a whole lot of hesitation, I did that thing my parents said I was never to do and whipped around the block to meet this man and lady at the corner and picked up a stranger. How dangerous could they be at there age?
Calling out my passenger window, I asked if they would like a ride to the gas station, to which the lady said, "Yes HE would". Turns out she was just trying to direct him towards a nearby bank. The man got in my car and introduced himself as "Jim". Jim said he needed to find a wells Fargo bank to get some money, so I went around the block, passing his broken down truck for a second time, as he started in to his touching story and the circumstances that led up to that moment. Jim told me he was on his way home from an appointment for a potential opportunity to do some handyman work that fell to the wayside when the prospective client blew him out. He stopped at a gas station only to have his ATM card declined. Upon calling the bank, he learned they had put a five-day hold on the six hundred dollar government check he received for his wife's death benefits. Jim knew he had $4.00 in an account at Wells Fargo and was planning to go close out his account to get some gas money. My heart ached for his plight and my mind started calculating how long I would have to wait to have him close his account only to yield $4 bucks. It didn't take me long to figure out the right thing to do was to just buy this guy a tank of gas.
On the way to the gas station I asked Jim when his wife had passed, to which he explained she died two years prior after loosing a battle with breast cancer which was diagnosed only after having progressed to stage four. After a few minutes of conversation, Jim asked me what I did for a living. I explained that I worked for Kaiser Permanente leading a preventive care program that ensures our patients get the screenings they need to help prevent and diagnose cancer and other chronic conditions before they become a concern. Jim was quiet for a minute which made me think I had gone to techie with my description, but he broke the silence with a simple yet sincere comment that came out more like a statement than a question. Looking me in the eyes, he said thoughtfully "so maybe if we had Kaiser they would have caught my wife's cancer in time." Fighting back the emotion that filled me, I looked at Jim and replied, "I like to believe that we would have.”
By the time we pulled in to the gas station I had made up my mind that I was not going to let this sweet man go with just a gallon of gas. I explained to Jim in a very determined voice that I had a plan. After I dropped him off with his emergency gas I wanted him to follow me back to the gas station so I could put some more gas in his truck because there was NO way his old truck was going to make it very far on a gallon of gas. Jim was stunned, but grateful. "How can I ever repay you?” I looked at him sincerely and said "you don't, you just pay it forward sometime to someone else who needs it". Jim smiled and agreed wholeheartedly.
After fighting our way back through the traffic I pulled up behind Jim's truck and turned on my hazard signals. Jim poured the gas in his truck, carefully trying not to spill a drop, and then jumped in the truck to start it up. Sadly, nothing happened. Jim took a water bottle out, popped his hood, poured what was left in the bottle into his radiator, and then tried to start it up again. Still... it wouldn't turn over. A defeated Jim walked over to my car and said, "I guess we're out of luck. I think I need to be jump started, but I don't have any jumper cables." I smiled, thinking of the jumper cables my husband put in an emergency kit in my trunk so I would "always be prepared."
Getting Jim's truck started was no longer an act of charity; it was a MISSION! We were going to get this truck started if we to stay their all night. Using my crazy mad woman driving skills, I pulled in to the traffic that was creeping past Jim's truck, ignoring the honking horns coming from frustrated drivers, and flipped a u-turn so I could face Jim's truck and we could hook up the cables. Hooking up the cables to my new Cadillac proved a chore in itself because every component of the engine is covered so it looks sleek and clean under the hood. Finally, we found the right panel to move aside and Jim hooked up the cables. Excitement emanated from every pore as we looked at each other over our steering wheels and waited for the sound that was music to our ears. We were so ecstatic that we were giving each other high fives in the middle of Foothill Blvd! It was the most amazing rush of joy and satisfaction :-)
Our journey wasn't over yet though, we still had to make it to the gas station. I lead the way keeping my eyes focused between the road and my rear view mirror, praying his old truck would sputter it's way over to the gas station down the road. At last, we made it! Now a whole new struggle began. Getting Jim to allow me to FILL his tank with gas instead of just putting in the $20 we agreed upon. It took some gentle, but aggressive persuasion and a story about how I had just had a promotion, which came with a raise, and I wanted to share my blessings. (Okay, so the promotion and raise part happened about 8 months earlier - but he didn't need to know that) I had to keep Jim distracted with conversation as the total sale ticker crept up to $70. He tried to stop me twice, but us short women are also very stubborn.
Driving home I was so excited over my amazing experience that I wanted to share it with the world. You see... Jim thinks I was the one who was the giver, but in my eyes, it was me who was receiver. Jim reminded me of how wonderful it feels to serve others, to give freely without the expectation of reciprocation, to place your trust in someone else to help share your burdens, and to rejoice in the work that I am honored to do because I have the ability to help save lives every day. I'll never forget that day or Jim and his wife Mary. It is my hope that one day, no matter where a patient presents for care, we will take the time to do what's right, regardless of the financial aspects and save more lives together.
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