Lesson Eight The Kindness of Strangers Mike Mclntyre 1。 One summer I was driving from my home town of Tahoe City, Calif， to New Orleans。 In the middle of the desert， I came upon a young man standing by the roadside. He had his thumb out and held a gas can in his other hand. I drove right by him。 There was a time in the country when you' d be considered a jerk if you passed by somebody in need. Now you are a fool for helping. With gangs, drug addicts, murderers, rapists, thieves lurking everywhere， involved” has become a national motto. 2。 Several states later I was still thinking about the hitchhiker。 Leaving him stranded in the desert did not bother me so much。 What bothered me was how easily I had reached the decision 。 I never even lifted my foot off the accelerator 。 3。 Does anyone stop any more？ nded on the kindness of strangers。” Could anyone rely on the kindness of strangers these days? One way to test this would be for a person to journey from coast to coast without any money, relying solely on the good will of his fellow Americans. What kind of Americans would he find? Who would feed him, shelter him， carry him down the road？ 4。 The idea intrigued me。 5。 The week I turned 37, I realized that I had never taken a gamble in my life。 So I decided to travel from the Pacific to the Atlantic without a penny. It would be a cashless journey through the land of the almighty dollar。 I would only accept offers of rides, food and a place to rest my head. My final destination would be Cape Fear in North Carolina, a symbol of all the fears I'd have to conquer during the trip。 6. I rose early on September 6, 1994， and headed for the G...
