A Full-Serve Worth Paying For… Is That Possible?

by | May 21, 2007 | Caring, Example, God's Hands, Helping, Kindness

We had driven all the way from Banff, Alberta, to the capital of Montana: Helena. It was a quaint little town; but still having over 150 miles to drive that day, we would have bypassed it altogether if our gas reserves hadn’t been screaming to be refilled. It had been miles since the last gas fill-up however, and we had no way of knowing where we would find more, so we took the first exit and drove straight to the nearest gas station.

My wife, who was driving, must have been tired, for she inadvertently pulled into the full-serve isle. It was only seconds before we were made aware of our mistake by three employees who literally ran forward to care for us. “Hopefully people in Helena like Canadians,” I found myself thinking. But the worry was needless, for to our surprise, while one of the employees began pumping our gas, the other two began a diligent clean-up of our van’s exterior! And believe me, after 3 weeks on the road, it needed it!

The gas tender came up to the window. “I hope you wanted full-service!” he said with a smile.

“Full-service?” My wife quickly glanced at the full-serve price on the sign out front and gulped.

“It is a bit more expensive, but it is worth the price!”

Her eyes then fled from the price to the isle she had intended to pull into and gulped again. The gas station was far too small for us to be maneuvering our trailer 10 feet sideways. We would have to bite the bullet and pay the fee. Besides, the guy seemed nice enough, and his buddies had already found the rear window under all of the dust. Why not?

It took the three boys, obviously high school students working summer jobs, quite awhile to finish the exterior of the van, for they didn’t just stop at the windows, but washed down the rest as well. One of them even scrubbed down the front of the trailer. Then, to our surprise, one opened the hood to top off our fluids and check the oil, the second one started in on our tires and hubcaps, while the third one pulled out a vacuum cleaner and started on our floor mats! Now, if we had thought the exterior of the van was dirty, compared to the interior, where two active teenagers had been traveling for 3 weeks, it had been spotless! We couldn’t have been more happily surprised.

While working, the boys chatted with us like old friends. They even saved us over 50 miles of driving by telling us of a great shortcut to our destination for the night. Just that piece of advice alone was worth the service!

While they were working on the car, several other clients pulled into the self-serve isle. These all took their time to chat with us, and it wasn’t long before we had fallen in love with Montana. The scenery was out of this world, yes, but even more importantly, the people were as well!

“What a great place to retire!” I exclaimed to no one in particular, but I couldn’t help but wonder what motivated these three diligent employees. Only minutes later, a lady at the next isle answered my unasked question.

“I know the owner of this place,” she said. “He’s a great guy. He goes to my church.”

A Christian! I should have known. No wonder these three students were going beyond the call of duty. What a powerful witness!

When the boys had finally finished, the van looked spotless, brand-new and dirt-free. It was beaming with splendor. It was as if we were at a car dealership, standing next to a brand-new van!

The employees were beaming with pride as well.

“What did you do with our van?” I asked.

A worried looked crossed the face of the obvious leader of the three: “Is anything wrong?”

“Nothing at all!” I grinned. “It’s splendid work. I’ve never seen anything like it! Too bad you don’t live closer to Ontario!”

The employee beamed again. “You are welcome to move to Montana!” He suggested.

As I looked from the shiny car to the friendly people in the next isle, a longing began to fill my heart. “We may just do that one of these days!”

It was with a touch of sadness that we drove away, for it was like we were leaving behind some close friends.

“Those people sure are friendly!” exclaimed my younger son.

“They are Christians,” I stated. But I couldn’t help but think what a difference we as Christians could all make in the world if we were all a little more like those friendly Helena gas attendants!!

What impact do you make in your neighborhood, friend?

“Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” (Heb 13:2 NIV)

“If we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” (1 John 4:12 NIV)

Rob Chaffart

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A Full-Serve Worth Paying For… Is That Possible?

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