Assistance Ungiven

This is the third time I tried to help someone just to have it blow up in my face. The first time was when I was on the Mohawk-Hudson bike trail and I did not bring my tools and had to pass someone with a flat tire. The second time was by SUNY Albany where I stopped to help someone forgetting that I’d left my adjustable crescent wrench at home. Now the third time.

I was riding along the bike trail with a friend when we saw someone who was walking their bike. I said to my friend that I wanted to stop and see if anything was wrong because if it was a flat tire I could change it out in five seconds flat since that’s all I’ve been doing at ABR the past few weeks and I’ve gotten pretty quick. I slowed down and it turns out he did the flat tire so I went into my spiel. I’m from ABC, I work at ABR, here is how you change the flat.

We got as far as sanding down the tube and applying the glue which looked plump with sticky goodness. I squeezed the tube and nothing came out. I mean this thing was bone dry. I exclaimed to my friend, “I only used this once!” He explained to me that since it was an alcohol based adhesive that it evaporated. Needless to say I did what I could. I put his tire back together and sent him on his way to hopefully get it repaired by someone with more useable materials.

So that’s my third attempt to help someone in need. Maybe I’ll get it right the forth time.

Written by Chris Belsole