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Thanks to Salazar for Dec. 30 parking-lot help

By Reed Hollinshead

The kindness of strangers can be overwhelming — the best kind of surprise.

As I walked to my car in the parking lot last night after work, my cane slipped out from under me on an icy spot just as I was shifting weight, and down I went. A fellow ITD employee stopped his car, got out and assisted me in getting up from the ice, as my knees had gone numb from the impact of my kneecaps on the pavement.

I stood, shook his hand, thanked him, then got in my car and drove away. As I drove home, I realized that I had not asked for his name. As I grappled with the issue this morning, and wondered how I could properly thank him without a name to call or email, I pulled into the parking lot and there walking right by me in the glare from my headlights was...the Mystery Man. He stopped and advised me that it might still be slick right outside my door, and cautioned me to be careful.

This time I had the presence of mind to get his name.

So, Gustavo Salazar of Overlegal Permits, thank you for your kindness — it does my heart good to see people who genuinely care about the well-being of “the other guy.”

Although Salazar has only been on the job since October, his unit supervisor, Santiago Palomera, said “he is a great employee and we have received some great feedback from our customers.”

Pictured to right is Gustavo Salazar