Just Keep your Dadgum Jack

My Daddy used to tell a story of a man who was driving along a long, deserted road when he had a flat tire. He pulled over to the side of the road, got out of the car, and walked around to the back and opened the trunk. He started removing the things he would need to change the tire and realized his jack was missing. “Wonder where in the world I put my jack?” he thought to himself. “There’s no way I can do anything without a jack!”

Far off in the distance, he could barely see what looked like a house. “I guess I’ll start walking” he said. “Maybe the homeowner will have a jack that I can borrow to change my tire.”

As he started walking towards the house, he said, “Well I sure hope they have a jack. And I hope they are nice folks. Nice folks who don’t mind helping a stranger.”

As he walked along, he could see the house much better now. “You know, they may have a jack but might not be the kind of folks that lend out things to strangers. I sure hope they will help me,” he thought to himself as he got closer to the house.

“When they realize I want to borrow something, they’ll probably just slam the door!” he thought.

“I bet they will probably be just plain old mean folks! They’ll probably just laugh at me and tell me to get off their property!” he muttered to himself.

As he approached the house, he stepped up on the front porch and knocked on the door. Just as the homeowner answered the door, he looked at him and said, “Just keep your dadgum jack!”

He turned and headed back to his car.

So I guess this story needs a moral.

First, don’t assume. You never know what’s in someone else’s heart and head.

Second, always carry a jack in the trunk of your car.

From the mind of me.