Humanity is divided into two basic groups. There are those who are willing to run over you in the parking lot when you fall down, and there are those in the parking lot who run to help you up.

Maybe that is a somewhat primitive test, but it is an accurate one.

Now the story I’m about to tell did not happen to me, but to a dear friend. And it happened just a few days ago in Pickens.

My friend Dot was in the drive-thru at Arby’s. She had already been to the bank and the produce stand and had picked up chicken at KFC. The person manning the drive-thru was young, short and female. Dot’s car cut off in the midst of her transaction, and she couldn’t get it cranked. It was brutally hot — close to 100 degrees — and there was a line was forming behind her.

The little girl working the drive-thru left the window and rushed out into the heat and told Dot she was going to push the car into a parking space.

Dot protested, telling her she couldn’t allow her to do that.

The little girl responded, “Well, who else you got?” Of course there was no answer to that, for there was no one else.

The young lady stepped back into the store and drafted a customer who was willing and able to help, and together they pushed the car on through while Dot steered. And then, Dot discovered her cellphone was dead, and this young lady helped her get into the store.

The customer took her to his table to join his wife, who offered the loan of her cellphone so Dot could call someone to come and get her. AAA was also called to come and get the car.

This couple waited with Dot until Carla, another friend, arrived to take Dot home. They transferred the produce and chicken into Carla’s car, and only then did they leave.

After Carla got Dot home, they discovered that AAA wouldn’t pick up the car unless the owner was there. So they drove back down the mountain to Arby’s and waited. Time passed. And passed.

Finally, they went inside in the cool and ate supper. AAA had apparently had many calls for help and didn’t arrive until after 7 p.m. After the car was hauled away, Carla and Dot went back up the mountain. It had been an ordeal of no small order, but was finally at an end.

If not for the kind hearts and generous spirits of the young woman in the drive-thru and the customers in the store, Dot believes she would have succumbed to heat stroke, plus the fried chicken would have been ruined. As it was, these kind people, who were much more useful than a superhero would have been, showed up when needed and saved the day.

Thank you to all the kind people who are all around us but who remain in the background until a crisis arises, when they come to the rescue.