Lending a Helping Hand

I had an encounter with someone this afternoon that proved to be less than stellar.

To be honest, I don't want to go into a ton of details, but I had to humble myself to ask someone for assistance -- I needed to borrow an air bubble to attempt to air up a half-flat tire on my car (I was on my way to go buy new tires). So, I asked someone who I thought had access to one. To make it clear, I did NOT ask this person to help me with my tire, rather, just asked if I could borrow an air bubble. Well, muttering under his breath, he reluctantly retrieved an air bubble and assisted me in airing up my tire.

As soon as he was finished, I thanked him for his time and assistance, because, to be honest, I truly appreciated the help -- and it helped me out of a major bind. I didn't expect him to actually air up my tire, but rather, had just wanted to borrow the air bubble and was extremely pleased when he actually helped me. Instead of telling me that I was welcome, however, when he was done, he began muttering under his breath about idiot drivers who don't take care of their cars.

To his credit, I *did* need new tires and have known this for a while, but had been putting the purchase off for a bit longer. So, yes, I suppose that you could say I was acting like an idiot driver by not replacing my tires sooner, but still, was it necessary to point out that fact? I felt appropriately chastised and promptly drove off to Hibdon, where, nearly $250 later, I became the proud owner of two brand new tires.