The Black Beanie

In October of 1990 I owned a small lighting maintenance company called “Sundown Lighting”. The company was starting to grow and we picked up some commercial shopping center contracts, but the contracts required us to service tall parking lot light poles. The only problem was that we didn’t own a Boom Truck that could reach tall poles. So I made the decision to take out a loan and buy one and I actually got lucky because I found out that Carmenita Ford had a great deal on a new Ford F450 Dura-Lift Boom Truck. They had been using it as a demonstrator and it only had 10,000 miles on it, but unfortunately at that time it was parked in Denver at a truck show. If I wanted it, I would have to fly there and drive it back. However, the Ford Sales Rep told me to hurry because winter was on its way!

When I got to Denver the truck was perfect and just what we needed. I filled it up with Diesel fuel and headed out, but within an hour the snow began to fall. Within two hours I was stuck in a blinding snowstorm at the top of Vail Pass. I waited a long time and eventually a snowplow showed up and I was able to follow slowly behind it. When we reached the summit, I glanced over and through the heavy white mist I saw a large 18-wheel truck stopped on the side of the highway. About 50 yards in front of the truck was a man dressed in a dark coat with a black beanie pulled tightly over his head. I figured his truck must have broken down so I pulled over and asked him if he needed help. He said “Yeah” and jumped in I asked him, “What happened to your truck?” His answer caught me off guard when he replied, “That’s not my truck.”

As we rode along together I was kind of spooked. I kept thinking, what is this guy doing in a snowstorm with no car, no food, and no water, just a black coat and a beanie? I tried to start a conversation several times but he didn’t say much, just that he was an out of work carpenter headed for Salt Lake City. He said he heard that there might be work there, but other than that he barely spoke at all. When I asked him if he had family in Utah, he said, “No family.” I began to have some crazy thoughts. How did this guy get to the top of Vail Pass in a heavy snowstorm on foot? Why was he traveling with no backpack or supplies? And what happened to the driver of that 18-wheeler on the side of the road?

After traveling for about four more hours along a section of Hwy 70, I spotted a gas station and a Wendy’s Restaurant. As we pulled up I asked the stranger if he wanted something to eat. He grunted, “No,” but I knew he had to be hungry, so I went inside and ordered two double cheeseburger meals and brought them back to the truck. As we pulled back out on the highway, I think he said, “Thanks,” but it was only a faint whisper that I could barely hear.

Soon we came to the intersection of Hwy 70 and 15, where my journey would take me south. All of a sudden he said, “Stop here!” It was late in the day and the sun was going down, plus it was cold out and we were in the middle of the desert, so I asked him, “Are you sure you want to get out here? If you want to keep riding along for a while, I’d be willing to get you a motel room.” The stranger just kept his head down and never responded, so I pulled over. As he started to get out of the truck I grabbed his arm and stuck a fifty-dollar bill in his hand and with a slight nod of his head, he turned away and jumped out of my truck, slamming the door. I kept thinking he’s going freeze to death out there, but I didn’t know what else to do. So I put the truck in gear, made a quick U-turn, and looked out the window to wave goodbye.

That’s when it got really spooky. The stranger was nowhere to be seen! Even though we were in the middle of the desert, with no trees and not even a cactus to hide behind, the stranger was gone! He vanished in less than 20 seconds and it totally freaked me out. “Where’d he go? What happened to him?” I even began to think maybe he climbed onto the back of my truck and was hiding out, waiting to jump me and rob me when I stopped again. I guess I was just being paranoid but I also began to wonder, “Did I really did just spend 6 hours with a mysterious stranger in a black beanie, who barely spoke, and then disappeared into thin air? What was that all about?”

When I finally did pull over at a Motel 6 about an hour later, I was still freaked out. So I climbed slowly out of the truck, walked around the back, and peered in to see if the stranger was hiding in the back of my truck or something. Fortunately, he wasn’t, so I guess I felt relief, but I also couldn’t stop wondering what happened to him. It was then that I decided to call my office and let them know that I had picked up the truck and was safely down the mountain. Boy did I get a funny surprise! My Office Manager told me she had finally decided on the perfect gift we should get our customers as a promotional item for the upcoming Christmas Season… Black Beanies with our Sundown Logo on them!

There are so many lessons I can learn from that experience. But maybe the most important lesson is that wherever I go and whatever I do, I am always operating for an audience of One. No matter if I’m at home or at work, or in a snowstorm in Colorado, or even on a remote highway in the desert, I need to remember that God is always watching me. So I should always do my best to serve others…. even if it’s a scary ghost in a black beanie!

Sundown Lighting's Promotional Black Beanie

One of the most beautiful compensations of this life is 

that you cannot sincerely try to help another…  

without helping yourself.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson