Why???....

In October 1999, I was headed for the mountains of North Carolina to meet some friends for a few days of bike riding in the Smokies. I was towing my Harley, headed up I-85 just north of Atlanta, when I noticed a severe vibration had started with the trailer. I started looking for a place to pull over, when suddenly the vibration stopped. Great ,I thought, whatever it was has fixed itself, but when I looked in the rear view mirror, I saw that the bike and trailer were now riding at a severe angle. Just as this was happening, I came upon the I-985 exit and managed to make�the turn and pull over�onto the shoulder of the highway. I got out to see what had happened to the trailer, and to my amazement the left rear wheel of the trailer was GONE!!. Luckily, I had the Harley securely tied down.

     I called 911 on my cell phone, told them it wasn't an emergency, but needed to get the number of a towing company. I contacted the towing company and they said that they would be by soon. I had been waiting on the side of the road for�over an hour, and was getting ready to call the tow company back to see what the problem was, when this pickup truck with a UGA bumper sticker pulled over just behind me. A gentlemen in his 50's gets out and asks me if I could use some help. (I had a Gator bumper sticker on my truck).I told him that I had called a towing company, but that was an hour ago and no one had shown up. So he tells me that he knows a guy who works on trailers and has a flat bed that he could bring to haul my trailer to his shop. I thanked him profusely and said that would really be great, so he calls the trailer guy and he says that he will be there in about 1/2 hour. Then this gentleman(Andy) suggest that we unload the bike. This we do, and then he suggests that I when the guy gets there with the flat bed, I could ride the bike, he would drive my truck and his wife would drive his truck over to his home in Buford, GA. Sure enough in a few minutes, the guy shows up with the flat bed and loads up my trailer. He tells me that he could fix it, but it would be the next day or so before he gets it done, and I say that would be fine, thinking that I'm probably going to have to stay in a motel in Buford for a couple of nights. Andy then tells me that when we get to his home, we could have a bite to eat and that I could leave my truck at his home, and continue on my way on the Harley to NC. The trailer guy would bring my trailer to his home leave it there, and I could pick up the trailer and truck on my way back to Florida. This is exactly what I did ( the bite to eat turned out to be a nice steak!).

       When I  arrived at Andy's home on the way back, they weren't at home, but he had left a note in my truck, saying that they had to leave, but my trailer was there, ready to go and the cost of repairing the trailer was $15.00!! I left them a check for $50.00 and a note thanking them again for their help and hospitality. I will never forget the kindness and generosity of this Dawg Fan and his wife, who went way out of their way to help an unknown Gator fan. We still exchange Christmas Cards every year. 

        Football is fun, and I like to kid and rag on the Dawg fans, but it's just a game, and there are plenty of good people who wear the red and black.