Originally posted on Facebook on Saturday, March 6, 2021.
In Week 10 of 52 Weeks of Gratefulness, I give thanks for Cornall Jones.
"THUMP-FSSSSSSSSSS!!", was the sound I was suddenly greeted with as I turned the corner behind the Cracker Barrel just off I-55 in Jackson, Mississippi.
Metal hitting stone could be felt when one of the wheels descended into a crater of a pothole. The hissing that followed was a dead give-away that the tire had ruptured. The impact ripped a tear so large that the air was escaping completely. As I maneuvered in an attempt to avoid losing a second tire to the hole, before having gone another yard, the car started to lean to one side.
I get out to find the car resting precariously on the rim. I then set about the task of changing the tire. It's the middle of a Mississippi summer day. It's hot. And, it seems like everything is piled in the trunk. So, before I can get to the spare, I have to empty the trunk and then only to find that the spare is flat!
Less than two hours prior, I was sitting in an ambulance with my mother, feeling helpless because I could do nothing more than offer her moral support. I came to Cracker Barrel to pick up one of her favorite dishes in an effort to do something helpful, however small. But, here I am, behind the restaurant with her food in the car, with a flat tire and a flat spare. What's more, is it's nearly 3 PM and my son has a football game later that night in a town more than two hours away.
I'm having a great day.
My frustration is reaching a boiling point and I remember to pray. By God's grace, I regain enough composure to return to the task at hand and find that the spare only needed air and one of the many items we had in the trunk was an air compressor. After getting the spare in place, I hobble to the nearest tire shop, Firestone Complete Auto Care in Jacksonian Plaza.
They're packed. I have to go behind the shop just to find a park. The lobby tells an even more grim story. Yet, almost immediately, I am kindly greeted by a young man, "Welcome to Firestone. How may I help you?" I tell him I've had a flat and need a replacement tire. He replies, "Can you leave it overnight?" I explain that I live out of town and trying to get to my son's football game, so I'd be happy to wait if there was any chance he could squeeze me in. He replies, "Man, all my bays are full and we're backed up but I understand what it's like to have kids playing ball. I can't make any promises, but if you're willing to wait, I'll do the best that I can."
About thirty to forty-five minutes later, a technician comes in the lobby on break and I overhear the young greeter ask him, "Can you man the front for me?" to which the tech jokingly retorts, "Dude. I'm on break." He says, "I know. Help me out." I could hear the mutual respect for each other in their voices. The tech relents, "Gone head, man." The young man, who I now have come to learn his name is Cornall Jones and is also the Service Manager, runs over to me and asks, "Are you parked in the back? Do you have a jack?" He then proceeds to go outside, remove the old tire from the rim, fits the rim with the new tire, balances it and then manually jacks up the car -outside in the heat and mounts the replacement tire himself.
Mr. Jones returns to the lobby, clothes dotted with sweat and with hands soiled from his work. Handing me my keys he says, "Mr. Luckett, I think we've got you going. I hope you make it in time to see your boy." Because of his kindness, dedication and extraordinary efforts, I did. Not only that, but it changed the trajectory of my day and left an impression I am recounting two years later. His gesture was an excellent example of the impact we can all make even in the course of a regular work day by doing all we do, including our work with love. I'm grateful. #52Wog