A Friend Indeed

     We had a leak in our roof.  It wasn't a bad leak, but I knew that if I didn't get it took care of, it would end up being something major.  I am not the most handy of handy men, and knew that this problem was beyond the scope of my expertise, so I asked a friend of mine that does handy man work if he would mind coming and looking at my roof to find the problem.  He said he would be glad to do it.
     I knew where the problem probably was, but like I said, I wouldn't have a clue how to fix it, and really don't like climbing around on roofs.  My friend told me he would come by after work one day and check it out.  Last Friday, he caught up to me and told me he would come by.  I went home after work, and soon after he called and said he was on his way.  He pulled up, and we walked around and I pointed out where I thought the problem was.  He got his ladder out, got his caulk and caulk gun, and up he went.  Sure enough, he found the problem.
     In no time he had fixed the leak, then he went around to a couple of other similar spots and fixed them also so that they would not cause problems later on.  He came back down and we stood at his truck and talked for a few minutes.  Then came the moment I was dreading.  I asked him how much I owed him.  I was expecting the worst, not because I didn't trust my friend, but because I never know what this type of work is valued at.
     He stood there for a minute and started naming his costs.  "How about ten dollars?"  I was shocked.  How may people would do this type of work for ten dollars?  We agreed on the price and he went on his way.  I wonder some times what has happened to people like this.  To me, it seems like the days of friend helping friends in their time of need is a long lost idea.  Not only friends helping friends, but people helping people.  It seems these days that most people are more worried about getting every last dollar than doing right by others.
     I am not going to put my friends name on here, because I know that isn't why he did it, and he would be embarrassed by it if I did.  I will say that I am glad that I have friends like this, and that there are people out there that still are driven by the ideals of helping others for the simple joy of helping others, and not for gain.