I stopped on the highway to help an elderly couple with a flat tire — just a small good deed, or so I thought. A week later, my mom called me, screaming into the phone: “STUART! Why didn’t you tell me? Turn on the TV. RIGHT. NOW.” That’s when everything flipped upside down.

I was tired after a day of board meetings. I was wearing a $5,000 bespoke suit. I could have called roadside assistance and kept driving.

But I pulled over.

I turned on my hazards. I grabbed the umbrella from the back seat and stepped into the rain.

“Need a hand?” I asked.

The girl turned, eyes wide at the supercar and my appearance. “I… I can’t pay you.”

I smiled. I felt the invisible hand of an old man on my shoulder, warm and encouraging.

“Don’t worry about that,” I said, rolling up my silk sleeves, not caring about the rain ruining the fabric. “Just promise me one thing. Pay it forward someday.”

Because you never know who you are helping. You never know how a small act of kindness can alter a destiny. And most importantly, you never know who you are becoming in the moment you decide to stop, rather than drive by.

The world needs brilliant engineers, yes. But it needs people who stop in the rain even more.

THE END.