Kayli Metzler’s plans of driving safely this winter looked like they had hit a roadblock, until a kind stranger and a local tire shop decided to offer some help.
The mother of four arrived at Star Tires, a tire shop in Sackville, N.S., last week with two second-hand winter tires that she purchased off Facebook’s Marketplace in hopes of getting them put on as she needed to drive to Pictou the next day.
But when she arrived, she received some disappointing news.
“The two tires were ‘wrote off.’ They were not going to work, and they were not something that they felt comfortable or safe putting on,” she said.
As a first-time car owner with little understanding of the tire-installation process, she said she began to panic. A nearby customer, waiting for the work on his car to be finished, overheard her conversation and stopped the employees to ask how much it would cost for two rear tires.
“I think he had seen the van, seen the car seats, and knew I had kids, knew I was driving to Pictou and just couldn’t let me drive away like that,” she said.
“He offered to pay for everything. He told me to sit down and relax, we sat down for about a half hour, we talked. He gave me some great advice on the van.”
Metzler said the experience was emotional and that the customer, who she says was named Adrian, was “an angel.”
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Shortly after the customer said his goodbyes, the manager of Star Tires came out to wish her Merry Christmas and told her that the shop would be offering a gift of their own.
Murad Abdel Ghani, general manager of the family-owned business, said he had chatted about the situation with his dad, who’s the owner of the shop, and they came to an agreement to throw in two new front tires as well, free of charge.
“I come in and say ‘Listen, Merry Christmas, I know you just stopped crying and I hope you don’t cry anymore,” he said. “But we’re going to give you two more tires. You really need them and this way you have four new tires, 20 lug nuts, no charge to you, and you keep the other two that came off for the summer.”
Despite this being Metzler’s first experience as a Star Tires customer, she said they treated her like family.
“It just goes to show how infectious kindness really is and the more of it that you put out into the world, the more of it that just happens around you. It was just a small act of kindness that spiralled into something huge,” she said.
Ghani said he believes everybody should help one another as much as they can, especially at Christmas time.
“She started crying, saying, ‘You guys are angels. Nobody has done this before. I’ve never seen this done before — thank you, you don’t have to,’” he said.
“It’s not about having to do it; we’re going to do it.”
Following the good news, Metzler, who is an assistant manager at a local Dollarama, shared the details of her experience in a Facebook status that generated thousands of reactions.
She said her family and close friends “cried right along” with her when they heard the news.
“I have a village behind me, and they see how hard I work. So, for something to happen like this for our family and for my kids, it kept us safe, and it’s going to keep us safe this winter. So, it was a miracle for them too,” she said.
Ghani said Star Tires, which is in its 29th year of business, wouldn’t be opposed to doing something like this again to help someone out if the situation arose.
“Two tires or four tires do not affect a business like us,” he said.
In her Facebook post, Metzler expressed her desire to pay this act of kindness forward one day.
“I try to do something little in everyday life every day,” she said.
“I don’t have a lot to give but I think every little thing means something, so you go the extra mile for somebody when you can.”
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