So, on the date of September 12th 2019, folks from Greenpeace decided to go up on the Fred Hartman Bridge and repel from the bridge down to hang about 100 feet above a major waterway known as the Houston Ship Channel. They did this to shut down channel traffic to protest the use of fossil fuels. MIND YOU, THEY DROVE CARS THAT USE FOSSIL FUELS TO GET THERE. ONE LADY TOOK A PLANE FROM HER PART OF THE COUNTRY TO JOIN THEM, WHICH ALSO USED FOSSIL FUEL! And, yes, I was shouting in all caps, because this tied up the bridge. They started out just before dawn so they could get in place before anyone could see them and stop them. Of course, all the activity caused people driving on the bridge to look out of curiosity. Guess what? It caused two accidents - one of which was pretty serious. Hence, my trek down to Seabrook was jammed up.
That same day was an evening event at church known as Supper Club. I don't always get to attend since I have to go home and let dogs out as soon as I get off, but I decided to go home at lunch so I could stay for dinner. Well, that took forever. I had no clue what was going on at the top of the bridge on the way in that morning, but by my lunch break it was clear as a bell. Traffic was crawling. They had two right lanes blocked with a gazillion Sheriff's Department officers, television crews and a whole world of gawkers. It took almost an hour to make my 20 minute drive.
Yes, you see 12 people swinging in the breeze with color banners to make them highly visible.
One of my table mates at Supper Club said they brought SWAT in to clear them from the bridge. My drive home was predicted to be a breeze. IT WAS NOT.
I hit La Porte to discover a packed highway with all traffic being diverted west onto 225.
The only option to get home was the beltway (and I don't have a working tag) or trudge all the way to Houston to the 610 loop to get to I10. I thought I would be clever and try to take the ferry. Nope. They turned us all around. The ferry shuts down at dusk, and the time was now 7:30. The cute little indicator on my smart little car came on to tell me I had an approximately12 miles of gas available. All I had was change. I wound my way into Pasadena and found a super store gas station. I rushed in pulling coins out of my wallet. The line was pretty long. Apparently, I wasn't the only motorist in this situation.
Behind me were a young lady and a young Hispanic looking male with a very closely shaven head and tatoos, which is not uncommon around here. I told both of them to go ahead of me. I was going to have to count change. While the young lady was checking out, I realized I didn't even look at the number on the pump when I drove up. I said this out loud. The young man heard me and told me to go on out and look - he would save my place in line. I hurried out and back. He asked which one it was, and I replied with the number while I continued to count out my $1.37 - the sum total of my wealth till payday. When he finished at the register, he turned to me and said, "Put your change away. I put $10.00 gas in your car." I asked him if I could hug him and thanked him with tears in my eyes.
Just when you think you need to give up on young people - this happens! There is an angel out there with a tatoo on his left bicep. I can never return the favor, but I can guarantee that, if I have the opportunity to pay it forward, I will.
And this is the story I tried to post on Facebook, which they blocked. They can post long political rants all day long, but something that tells a story about the kindness of a stranger........go figure Facebook. It's one of the things wrong with this world.
