The Kindness of Strangers
7 Jan 2006
Nickname update: Brown Bear (Claire) has developed quite a tan, so Hans gave her this nickname, which is a takeoff on Claire Bear, an old nickname of hers. I'm sure she'll be even browner by the time we get back. We'll try to get a good picture of Brown Bear on here soon.
(Hank Lee, I thought about you several times during the following adventure!) On Saturday we went to Praia Moçambique, which is on the east side of Florianopolis island. Most of the 3 mile long beach is protected as a forest reserve and therefore undeveloped. We drove in from the highway on a dirt road for a mile or two and parked in a pine tree grove right next to the beach. After a nice day (too nice, as the girls and I got our first sunburns), we headed for home. We stopped a few hundred yards down the dirt road to help Maddie clean sand out of her eyes, and inadvertently locked the keys of our rental car in the trunk! The car had no button next to the driver seat to open the trunk, and no folding back seat. I decided to hitch a ride back to the beach to see if I could borrow a cell phone to call the rental car company to come help us.
I flagged down the first car that came, an old beater with a local couple. The guy got out, puffing on his cigarette, shirtless, and wearing a jaunty cowboy hat. He looked at our car trying to figure out a way to get in. He gave up, and suggested I find a similar car at the beach to see if that key would open our trunk. So he and his wife gave me a ride back to the pine grove, and God provided a car that was the same make and model as ours, and the people were just getting ready to leave. The guy was a young Brasilian in a Speedo and sporting a huge beer belly (sorry, no pics available). He came back with me and Cigarette-Smoking Local to see if his key would open our trunk. No luck. So he decided to walk back to his car to see if the manual might give us some idea of how to get in. Meanwhile, Hans and Cigarette-Smoking Local tried to pick the lock with a variety of keys and an exacto knife. Still no luck. Beer-Belly Speedo came back, and Cigarette-Smoking Local went on to the beach with his patient wife. Beer-Belly Speedo's manual was no help, so we decided to call the rental company on his cell phone. No reception!
We were in a hard place. Beer-Belly Speedo suggested we keep trying to find a way to break into the trunk. He noticed that the area behind the back seat in his car had speaker holes in the metal frame underneath the vinyl and felt trim. Hans figured out a way to jimmy the trim enough that he could stick his hand through. He stuck his hand through and miraculously, the first thing it touched was our precious car key, which he pulled out triumphantly!
(Editor's note: I was very touched throughout the adventure by the two people who went way out of their way to help complete strangers. It is typical of Brasilian kindness and the high value they place on relationships, but not often seen in our San Francisco Bay Area.)
Nickname update: Brown Bear (Claire) has developed quite a tan, so Hans gave her this nickname, which is a takeoff on Claire Bear, an old nickname of hers. I'm sure she'll be even browner by the time we get back. We'll try to get a good picture of Brown Bear on here soon.
(Hank Lee, I thought about you several times during the following adventure!) On Saturday we went to Praia Moçambique, which is on the east side of Florianopolis island. Most of the 3 mile long beach is protected as a forest reserve and therefore undeveloped. We drove in from the highway on a dirt road for a mile or two and parked in a pine tree grove right next to the beach. After a nice day (too nice, as the girls and I got our first sunburns), we headed for home. We stopped a few hundred yards down the dirt road to help Maddie clean sand out of her eyes, and inadvertently locked the keys of our rental car in the trunk! The car had no button next to the driver seat to open the trunk, and no folding back seat. I decided to hitch a ride back to the beach to see if I could borrow a cell phone to call the rental car company to come help us.
I flagged down the first car that came, an old beater with a local couple. The guy got out, puffing on his cigarette, shirtless, and wearing a jaunty cowboy hat. He looked at our car trying to figure out a way to get in. He gave up, and suggested I find a similar car at the beach to see if that key would open our trunk. So he and his wife gave me a ride back to the pine grove, and God provided a car that was the same make and model as ours, and the people were just getting ready to leave. The guy was a young Brasilian in a Speedo and sporting a huge beer belly (sorry, no pics available). He came back with me and Cigarette-Smoking Local to see if his key would open our trunk. No luck. So he decided to walk back to his car to see if the manual might give us some idea of how to get in. Meanwhile, Hans and Cigarette-Smoking Local tried to pick the lock with a variety of keys and an exacto knife. Still no luck. Beer-Belly Speedo came back, and Cigarette-Smoking Local went on to the beach with his patient wife. Beer-Belly Speedo's manual was no help, so we decided to call the rental company on his cell phone. No reception!
We were in a hard place. Beer-Belly Speedo suggested we keep trying to find a way to break into the trunk. He noticed that the area behind the back seat in his car had speaker holes in the metal frame underneath the vinyl and felt trim. Hans figured out a way to jimmy the trim enough that he could stick his hand through. He stuck his hand through and miraculously, the first thing it touched was our precious car key, which he pulled out triumphantly!
(Editor's note: I was very touched throughout the adventure by the two people who went way out of their way to help complete strangers. It is typical of Brasilian kindness and the high value they place on relationships, but not often seen in our San Francisco Bay Area.)
posted by pdana | 5:54 AM
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