Geoff, Celeste and I went to a Christmas party in South Hills on Sunday afternoon. It was still early when we left, so we decided to stop by Cornucopia on Bridge Road. While there, Geoff noticed one of our tires was low, so we asked a passerby where the nearest gas station was. He directed us to an Exxon a short way up Bridge Road. It was a few minutes after five when we pulled onto their lot. Two employees, a man and a woman, were still there and the lights were still on, but when we explained we had a flat, the woman said, “He already turned the machines off.” We pleaded with them, but they wouldn’t budge. I wished the woman a “Merry Christmas” before heading back to our car.

We had to choose between calling a tow truck, putting on the donut wheel from the trunk or trying to limp along to the next station a mile or two away. Since we were all dressed up for the Christmas party we’d just attended — and because a tow would cost at least $75 — we gambled that the tire still had enough air to make it to the next station without damaging the rim. Well, we made it without damaging the rim, but it completely ruined the tire, which was less than a year old.

I don’t know if I’m just angry as I’m out $100 at a time when we don’t have it to spare, or because someone would do that at Christmas, during the “season of giving.” We didn’t look dangerous standing there in our Sunday best, next to our injured little Toyota hatchback. I wonder if we’d have been treated the same if we’d been standing next to a Lexus or a Jaguar. I can’t help but think it might’ve made a difference.

If someone isn’t motivated by the opportunity to be kind, to help someone in need, then what does motivate them? Is it greed? The possibility of getting a big tip? Or are they simply apathetic and firmly rooted in that ugly it’s-not-my-problem state of mind?

Scrooge lives. Bah, humbug.

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