My faith in the goodness of humankind has been restored

My faith in the goodness of humankind has been restored – even in these nasty times that the blindest among us can’t fail to notice how downright evil our world has become.

Being 16 years old, my son desires to spread his wings from time to time and earlier this year I bought him a beautiful, well-looked after motorcycle. He was delighted, but I suffered from a rare bout of responsibility – I insisted that he did everything according to the book. And that included riding lessons, a good helmet and all the prescribed protective wear.

On Tuesday, the long-awaited day arrived – he was ready and qualified for his first trip on a public road. I rode out on my scooter to buy fried chicken for supper around the corner and he followed on his shiny red steed. But when we tried to head home, his bike died on him and refused to start.

The long wait and the limited short runs in the complex proved to take its toll. We rode home on my scooter and returned in my panel van to take the bike home, but lifting the hot motorcycle into the back of the van proved to be a challenge. Then an angel appeared.

ALSO READ: Father, daughter give stranded South Africans a helping hand

One of the delivery bike riders who hangs out around the local takeaway joint, walked over to us and asked if he can help. He turned a few screws, pulled levers and when he pressed the starter button, the little red motorcycle roared into life.

We left our helmets at home and my son, with his riding lessons still fresh in his mind, pointed out that he can’t ride on a public road without a lid on his noggin.

Our guardian angel didn’t hesitate – he told us he had a spare helmet and we can borrow it. Of course I told him he shouldn’t trust complete strangers with his helmet and bought it from him, but his willingness to help strangers has haunted me for the rest of the week.

But it wasn’t the end of the story. The next day, he even phoned me to make sure that we reached our humble home safely. Alex, your kindness has touched two hearts in this terrible city of sin. I hope to see you again when I go to our local strip mall one day. Our country needs more people like you.