It's September 1963 and I'm in my first semester at college.
I say it's 1963 so the reader will have an appreciation for the prevailing attitudes back then.
The college I'm attending is over 600 miles from my home. Freshmen weren't allowed to have cars so my mobility was severely constricted.
The first week of actual classes was mostly orientation...this is the book/books/supplies you need...we meet at these times...and so on.
For my Accounting class we were required to have a set of Working Papers. Of course the bookstore didn't have them.
Back at my dorm I scanned the phone book for stationery stores. I called a few asking if they carried what I needed. I finally found one that had everything I needed as they were suppliers to the local businesses and accounting firms.
They said they would put together a package for me and I could pick them up at my convenience.
Great!!! How am I going to do that? The store is 35 miles away from the campus.
I figured that hitchhiking was my only option.
So I put on my college jacket and headed for the road to the store.
Two or three cars passed without stopping. It looked like the drivers were women...so...I understood them not stopping.
About five minutes later a late model 4-door sedan slows down and stops. The driver rolls down the window and asked where I was going. I named the store and he said he was headed to a hardware store in the same city and said hop in.
He was an older gentleman...I say older...maybe in his 40's. Well dressed.
Once I got situated we started some small talk...what was I studying...where was I from...how did I like college life...
He asked me how I planned to get back to campus...I said the same way I got here. He laughed said it was a good answer.
When we got into town, he dropped me off at the stationery store. I thanked him for the ride and he said he enjoyed the company. He wished me luck in my studies and drove off.
I found a clerk in the store and retrieved my supplies. The clerk said that there were a few other things that I might find helpful in my classes...pens, pencils, erasers, correction fluid. I paid for all my new-found treasures and headed for the door.
Standing on the sidewalk...trying to orient myself on which street we came in on. As I went to cross the street I saw my "chauffer" drive by. He stopped, tooted the horn and motioned me over. He asked if I was heading back to the college and would I like a ride. I nodded and he said get in. I thanked him profusely for his assistance.
He said no thanks were necessary..."That's what friends are for".
As we drove we chatted about this and that.
Then he asked me a somewhat strange question...He said..."If you do a favor for someone, do you think it is right to do a favor in turn for that person?"
I said I guess that would be the right thing to do.
He asked that did I think giving me a ride to and from town was doing me a favor. I agreed it was.