Now THIS is How You Start a Chain of Kindness

What does it mean to be a hero? Do you have to wear a uniform? A cape? Must one leap from building to building in single bounds? How about putting on your straw hat and sunglasses, and heading out on the road for a drive with your dog? Yes, there is an incredible need for these kinds of inspiring heroes, too!

Roaming highways and byways for over half a century, the “The San Diego Highwayman” has saved countless lives. But this superhero’s not a mysterious character; no, we know his name (Thomas Weller), where he lives (San Diego, California), and what he looks like. Even so, with every person he helps, he sends a shockwave through the world—and the best part? He can show you how you can do it, too.

On the notoriously busy freeways of San Diego, a breakdown is just about the last thing you want to have happen. (Check out how they describe the experience on the website California Driving—sounds awful.) But if Thomas Weller is on the road that day or night, you know you’ll find the help you need.

He’s powered by a drive that grew in him when he was 16—a need to keep a powerful chain of events growing; a chain that could very likely make all of our lives better. So, let’s meet this highway hero, shall we?

When the Highwayman Finds You!

Okay so, picture this: you’re driving along, your hands tapping on your steering wheel to your favorite song blasting through the speakers of your car. It’s a beautiful day: the sun’s shining, palm trees are swaying. Then suddenly, you sputter to a stop—you’re out of gas. You didn’t notice how low you were when you left the house, and now there’s not a gas station in sight to refill. Then, out of the stream of cars passing by you, a long, cream-colored car, decked out in lights and stickers, pulls up. Out steps a man with a straw cowboy hat, blue jeans, and sunglasses, carrying a red beacon of hope: a gas can.

With a few minutes of time, you’re on your way again. He refused all payment but left you with two cards. What one of them reads will change the way you go about your day for the rest of your life.

In their series While I’m Here | The Legacy Project, Brent and Tammy Foster introduce us to this humble hero to see why for 53 years Thomas Weller has been driving the roads of San Diego to offer human kindness when it’s needed most.

This film has helped raise over $12,000 to help Thomas fix his beloved car, Buelah!

Brent and Tammy Foster are filmmakers on a mission to tell the stories of those everyday heroes—our neighbors—and pointing out the #ConspiracyofGoodness that’s happening everywhere, all the time, spreading out in ever widening circles!

“I hope that a pebble in the water, the ripples spreading from what I do will spread out wide, and the others that I help, will help others in turn.”

— Thomas Weller

You can watch the rest of the Foster’s series, While I’m Here | The Legacy Project by heading over to their website. Or check out our recent article highlighting another one of our favorite episodes next!

Spying the hidden heroes among us!

“A hero is someone who does something extraordinary, I’m just doing ordinary things: I happen to be in the right place at the right time…”

— Thomas Weller

How many stories have we heard that echo that sentiment? The people around us who, on their own volition, take it into their hands to save their communities like a classic Marvel or DC superhero. There’s a conspiracy of goodness happening—small heroes, all over the world, doing what they can do to make life a little brighter for each other.

This power comes in many forms—in fact, I’m sure yours looks quite different than Thomas’s. But the effect is still the same. A ripple goes out, passing from one person to the next until suddenly extra loaves of bread are being given to each other, plant seedlings are shared for the garden, or someone’s stopping to help you refuel your car so that you can safely get home to your family.

You’re capable of starting this ripple. Begin with small acts: hold doors open, allow someone into your lane of traffic, listen to your friends when they share their stories with you. And then grow from there.

Two of the easiest ways I’ve seen to be helpful to those in our community (and beyond) are in these articles:

Heroes are all around us, every day, doing ordinary things under the same code of conduct that Thomas runs under:

“You don’t owe me a thing, I’ve been there, too. Someone once helped me, just like I’m helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here’s what you do: don’t let the chain of love end with you.”

See what happens when you give this a try.

As always, stay open to new possibilities!

• Sam

“No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” —Albert Einstein 

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