To the editor:

I am a firm believer in giving credit where it is due, so I am writing about my experience this morning while fixing a flat tire on Main Road in Tiverton.

I had pulled over to the side of the road near the start of Route 177, and while changing the tire I realized that my spare was about as flat as the flat. So I called AAA, made my confession, and settled down to wait for a truck to come fill up my spare.

There wasn’t a lot of traffic, but within five minutes I got my first offer of help. A man in a small pickup, fishing rods loaded up in the bed, pulled in and asked me if I needed help – I explained that I was just waiting on some air for the tire, and thanked him profusely for stopping.

Another five minutes and I got a second visit, this time from two men in another small pickup who said they’ve got a compressor just down the road, and it would be no trouble. I joked that I didn’t want to get yelled at by the roadside assistance driver by telling him when he arrived that I didn’t need him anymore, and off they went – I thanked them over and over as well, and I meant it. Honestly, less than five minutes later came a man on a bicycle, bundled up for the cold, asking whether I was having trouble getting the lug nuts off my tire and did I need help with them.

I’m not an overly gushy or sentimental person, but what a nice thing it was to have these people stop to offer their help. I realize that It could happen on any stretch of road in any town, but this morning it was Tiverton that left enough of an impression on me to inspire a letter to the editor.

C. White

South Dartmouth, Mass.