Service Reveals Our Worth

I had a flat tire a couple of nights ago and I was able to loosen all but one of the lug nuts, which had been stripped and the tire iron kept slipping. Now, to steal a phrase from Terry Pratchett, I take to fixing cars like a duck takes to merchant banking, but I tried everything I can think of, and I prayed and I swore and I begged the stupid little lug nut to let go already and nothing worked. Eventually a man came over to help me. I don't know everything about him but he seemed like he might be homeless, but he said he'd been a mechanic for over twenty years. Together we were able to wrestle that lug nut off, and then I was able to swap out the tire and finally go home. I was incredibly grateful for two reasons. The first, obviously, because I could finally have my car running again. But I was also grateful because this man whom society has more or less written off as useless was able to exercise a valuable skill to help someone who was in over their head. Being of service can open up our eyes to the worth of others but it can also open up our eyes to our own worth. We may not believe that we have much to offer. Much of the world may agree with us. But in the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king. As flawed and as broken as we may be, there are still people who are even worse off than we are. We don't have to look very hard for someone facing a crisis, and qualified or not, a second pair of hands is sometimes all any of us need.