Greek philosopher Diogenes is said to have strolled about in
broad daylight carrying a lamp as he looked for an honest man. Legend has it he
found only rascals and scoundrels in the human race.
I found an honest man this week without searching.
Following our last winter snowstorm about two weeks ago,
roads were icy in places. One especially treacherous stretch was a curved
section near our driveway on the entry road to our community. Our
home is set back far enough from the road so we seldom hear any traffic noises
when we are inside.
In mid-afternoon, I answered the door and met Jim Beebe. To
my surprise he said, "My 16-year-old son came home and told me he slid off
the road onto your property. He grazed your mailbox and ran across part of the
lawn. I do home improvement and repair work for a living, and want you to know
we will take care of all damages."
Mr. Beebe handed me a
business card and said I should call him to get the work done when the
snow was gone and I had a change to assess the situation. He thought the
mailbox was OK, but knew there would be some work needed on the lawn.
The first day of spring brought good weather, and beautiful
wife Sandy and I checked things out. Big chunks of sod were gouged out of the lawn in three
places. At first I thought the mailbox was a little wobbly, but probably would
be all right. Sandy
thought otherwise. As usual, she was right. The plastic parts that
Diogenes failed, but I found an honest man. |
I phoned Mr. Beebe. He said he and his son would be over
that afternoon to take care of things. Kenny Beebe rang our doorbell at about 3
p.m. He said we should buy a mailbox, we would be reimbursed, and he and his
father then would be over to install it and repair the lawn.
About an hour later we spotted Mr. Beebe and son working on the lawn damage. I
told Mr. Beebe we thought the work would be done after we got a mailbox. He
said, "I told Kenny that's not good enough. When we've done with this,
we're going shopping for a box. When we have one, we'll ask you to approve it
before I install it."
Two hours later, the Beebes reappeared with a mailbox that
proved to be an updated version of the one that was damaged. They said they
visited three stores to find just the right one. We agreed they had succeeded. Mr.
Beebe did a beautiful installation job, and the result was a unit superior to
the one it replaced.
Had Kenny Beebe simply driven away and not
told his father about the accident we would have had no way to know who caused
the damage. I told Mr. Beebe that his son seemed like a fine young man.
"Not quite," he replied. "He should have told you right away,
not gone home to tell me. I've straightened him out about that."
I think there will be more than one honest man in the Beebe
family if Jim has his way.