Is the free-range knight in shining armor still out there? If not what happened? Did he fade away? Killed by mass extinction event, meteor maybe? Is he still there just in hiding? 

A recent event stirred thoughts I’ve had for many years. I was just leaving work and a smaller modern car pulled into the parking lot behind the local pharmacy. It was a nice-looking car with two pleasant looking ladies with some happy little doggies enjoying the car ride. It was reasonable to assume a mother daughter pair with daughter driving. As they drive by I notice their rear tire was very low –nearly flat. They pull into a parking spot seeming to be preparing to go into the store. I’m in a parking spot one row back from them and about four spaces down. 

I fight my head a bit as to how I should handle this. The stigma of being an oversized crotchety old codger in this toxic masculinity shy world gives me pause to just say to myself, just move along nothing to see here. They will just think I’m creepy for even approaching them. So, I decide to just go on my way for fear of encroaching on the “Safety zone,” of a modern American woman. 

As I’m about to go on by, I see there is an open parking spot next to them. So that gives me a double wall of separation from the ladies so I can inform them of their very low tire and still not approach them other than talking from an open window of my car and theirs. So, at this point they could crack their window and hear what I had to say without them being fearful of a big old codger getting within reach. 

For me, this is awkward and feels awful because I know I only mean to be helpful and kind. I feel like my desire to be the noble knight has been destroyed by modern fears and loss of trust for your neighbor. However, the tug at my heart to help the ladies made me step through that invisible wall of taboo. It felt very awkward to be near enough to help yet, still maintain their safety gap. 

Mom steps out, walks around to the low tire to confirm and likely to assess how urgent the low tire was. Obviously, urgent she became less than pleased and made the decision to immediately go for air. Then they leave to go find air. I wait to see where they go and they actually turned the opposite way I expected. I intended to follow them till they got to the safety of a service station or something where they could get aired up. 

So, I then made a U-turn in the street to keep sight of them to follow them to safety. In my head, I’m thinking these ladies are for sure thinking I’m about to snatch them like in the movies. I feel bad for them and the situation. I follow them to a local convenience store where there was a coin opp air compressor. Of course, they didn’t have a pocket full of quarters and I did. So, I park well ahead of them to keep a large gap so they could feel safe. I step out of my car and approach the mother, obviously frustrated by how this day was going, and pull a pocket full of change from my pocket and stretch my arm as far as I can to try to maintain as much distance as possible – as to not intrude any closer than absolutely necessary. I say help yourself. She plucked out several quarters and fed the machine while I retreated back to near my car, fully extending the distance so they feel less threatened by this large old bearded man in work clothes. I make sure the tire is adequately filled and then leave to eliminate any further fear of the big old bearded stranger.

Now to my point… 

Years ago, when I was young strong and fit, I felt it was a sin against humanity to drive past anyone stranded and on the side of the road. I had a very nice GMC pickup I spend years fully outfitting to be the knight in shining armor. I had full set of wrenches, extra floor jack, a 6-gallon gas can full of premium gas so it could go into any car, jumper cables, gallons of coolant, oil and hoses and belts and clamps, tow rope and lots of flashlights. Water and granola bars. 

Many times, over the years I used all those items to be that noble knight. Scores if not hundreds of times. Some of us feel a tug to be noble. Sometimes the tug is rewarding. Sometimes a very heavy burden. 

This is the result of division politics and evybody gets a trophy politics. Consequences need to happen. Good and bad. The trust would still be there if bad people were punished justly by the world.

So my message of hope is, step up when you are needed. We noble knights are few and far between and have very successfully been pushed into hiding because of fear and mistrust. I’ve become weary of my own fears of offending folks by being generous and kind and thoughtful. I also have an elevated fear that not all folks are good folks and maybe by me putting myself out there to be helpful, I may also be exposing myself to danger. That said I’m always packing and very, very good and confidant with it. So, I feel safer when I do put myself out there. 

My kindness and decency have been called creepy in the past. So, I may be a bit selective at times when I offer help. Times are different too. Everyone has a phone, service is very reliable coast to coast now so there is that. There is also many organizations who charge a fee to be the noble knight to come and save a distressed motorist. However not all folks who just need a kind word are driving cars. Some are online professing they are done with everything. Mostly those folks are grandstanders looking for attention. However every now and then someone who is normally sunny and bright, become dark and quiet. When those folks start talking about drastic thoughts I actually will pop in with a “Hi, How are ya!?”

It’s time for us to help our neighbors. Check on the old ones, say hello, take them a plate of banana chocolate chip muffins and catch up a bit. Familiarity breeds trust. 

 So, while you do need to trust your gut and be aware of dangers of the modern world, there are also some modern-day knights armed with kindness, a 9mm sword in the belt or pocket, riding their GMC sturdy steed. I’m a lot older and a lot less sturdy these days but I will go down fighting to protect the distressed damsel or the innocent in peril. 

To my fellow noble knights in hiding, times are changing. Patriot pride is on the rise. Let’s step up and help rebuild our golden city on the hill. Governments didn’t build this. Patriots, minute men, frontiersmen, dreamers and even modern-day knights.