#RustyWrites
‘Busted Wheels And God Connections’
Tell ya a story.
I’m at the corner of 52nd and College on my way to the Radio-One building to tape my TV show and cover a shift on the radio. When the light turns green, I accelerate and hear a HUGE ‘BANG’. I actually thought someone had hit me. Looked in the rear-view and the car behind me was cool. WTF? I pushed the gas and my car said “Naw. I don’t think so.”. My car became unusable between stoplights. WoW.
I got the truck outta the road way, got out to see what the hell that was. Looked at my brand new tires and flipped out. The right front wheel was sticking out at an angle. FUUUUUUUUUUU!!
I immediately started figuring this was gonna be an expensive fix. I called Khris Raye and told her I couldn’t get to the station. She recognized that I wa in a reeeeal spot if I wasn’t able to come in at this time and had JC come in and cover Karen Vaughn’s shift. Lisa from IMC texted to see where I was cuz I was late. I sent her a picture of the wheel. She said “DANG! Get that fixed, we’ll reschedule!” Big shout out to them for making sure I could get back to rollin and understanding how jacked up my circumstances were. I really wanted to work today.
Annie from A2Industries saw me on the corner. She ran over and offered every kinda assistance she could think of then told me she’d be in the restaurant on the corner if I needed anything. Brian Presnell pulled up, parked, got outta the truck and started looking under the whip, assessing and building. He even went into the street and picked up the bearings from my wheel’s thingamajigger that busted.
Then Muhbabay got there. I had called her to let her know what had happened. She shot over to help me get the stuff outta the back of the truck. We put my stuff in her car. She stayed and we talked about how this would get fixed, what we were gonna do tonight and listened to The Temptations.
A cat named John that I didn’t know before today came over and offered to help. He said he recognized me from seeing me at Cornerstone Coffee, where I go every day to get a cup of bean. I told him I had it under control and thanked him. Just a cat from the neighborhood seeing another dude in the neighborhood in distress and looking out.
Then Shogun/Dicky Fox, then Moose, then Drew, then DJ Ohbeone, and a few other people who work in spots in my neighborhood. “Yo…Russ, you cool? You need a ride? You aight?”. Every single person asking if they could help and/or letting me know where they were should I need anything. The tow truck driver was present at this point and said, “Man, you know a lotta people, huh?”.
“Yeah, I’m blessed, man.”
The tow truck driver was at first worried about damaging the car any further by lifting it onto the flatbed. After muuuuch consideration and discussion, during which time I figured out that he wasn’t trying to just hoist my car up and get the money, I said “Let’s do it, man. You gotta plan, right?” and he did. Got the whip onto the flatbed alright.
I took the car back to the Goodyear where I get it serviced. I juuust got new tires and was like, “MAN, was this something you coulda fixed earlier or alerted me to?” My dude there is named Shea. He’s a straight shooter. He took a look at the whip and told me the tire arm had snapped in half, that wasn’t on them. Aight, then…now let’s talk estimates and such.
The estimate sounded about like what I expected to hafta pay. *sigh* I’m on the horn with M80 and NOW this dude tells me he has a car repair and sales spot. MAN, DANG! Well, my car was off the truck and it had taken about a half hour of figuring out how to make this happen without tearing up my car. FUUUUU…next time, call Eighty first. He told me to stay in touch and let him know if I needed anything.
Lemme show you how I turned all this around for myself to make it a good day;
All those people stopped to make sure I was OK. That’s a buncha people, man. That’s a lotta love.
This coulda happened on the freeway. My car woulda been totaled and I very well might be dead. I’m serious.
It’s gonna cost around what I thought it would cost…hopefully, but nonetheless, my car is paid for and the engine is still in great shape. I literally “rode my car till the wheels fell off”…and I’m getting them put back on to continue riding.
As soon as things went wrong, people came to help me, man. People I’ve been associated with for years, weeks, or not at all. I always say, “What you put into the world is what you get outta it.” Years ago, I woulda looked at this situation and flipped out totally. I flipped for a little bit, (who wouldn’t…?) but now…naw, not so much. I can either take care of it or I can’t…and if there’s something I can’t handle, someone will have my back, some kinda way.
“It WILL get done…and there was nothing I could do to keep this from happening. It was outta my control. I just thank God that it happened somewhere where I was around people that could help me out. Shit, I coulda been on the road, driving home from a show in who-knows-where at 4 in the morning. I could be dead, yo…I really could be dead right now. WoW. God is good.”
There was a time not too long ago where there was no way I could get to that point; I woulda been stuck on how much it was gonna cost. Somehow, it woulda gotten to be my fault, in my head and outta it. It woulda been yet another burden in a world full of them. That was then.
Here’s now; I’m going out with Muhbabay to the new club that is occupying the Patio’s space. We’re gonna go listen to Joe Meltdown with Courtney and have a great night. We rollin.
I try to put nothing but love into the world and for the most part, it comes back to me. I honestly believe that God speaks to you through the people who look out for you, especially when you’re in a jam. You gotta be aware and conscious for the Voice, but it’s in there. I hear it, at least, and it makes my days easier. I consider many of my friends, ‘God Connections’. I felt a buncha them today.
Thanks to everyone I tagged in this post for making sure I was alright today. Y’all are the best. Naptown is full of people like you and that’s a big reason I love it here.
From home, wishing you the best, with Respect and Grace,
“Explaining the many products derived from the peanut, including milk, mock beef and mock chicken, George Washington Carver stated: “If you go to the first chapter of Genesis, we can interpret very clearly, I think, what God intended when he said ‘Behold, I have given you every herb that bears seed. To you it shall be meat.’ This is what He means about it. It shall be meat. There is everything there to strengthen and nourish and keep the body alive and healthy.”
After nearly two hours, the chairman asked: “Dr. Carver, how did you learn all of these things?”
Carver answered: “From an old book”
“What book?” asked the Chairman.
Carver replied, “The Bible.”
The Chairman inquired, “Does the Bible tell about peanuts?”
“No, Sir” Dr. Carver replied, “It tells about the God who made the peanut. I asked Him to show me what to do with the peanut and He did.”
Happy Black Friday.
