The Man Who Handed His Car Keys to a Rock Band He'd Never Heard Of

When a tour van broke down 500 miles from the next show, a 60-year-old stranger named Ernie did the one thing no insurance company would recommend.

Picture the worst tour-manager nightmare: your van dies right after a set at Rock Fest in Chippewa Valley, the mechanic needs two days, and you have exactly ten hours to cover 500 miles to your next gig at Upheaval Festival in Grand Rapids. There is no version of this problem that a sad look solves.

Enter Ernie. Sixty years old, minding his own business, not a music guy — by his own admission, he'd never met a live band before in his life. He pulls over, sizes up the situation, and does the one thing absolutely nobody's insurance company would recommend: hands the keys to his Ford Explorer to three total strangers from a band called Autumn Kings and says, essentially, go make your show.

They drove it 500 miles out. Then 500 miles back. Ernie got his car returned, presumably with several new bumper stickers' worth of stories still stuck to the upholstery.

The band's own words afterward: "The kindness of this one man restored our faith in humanity." Ernie's version was a lot less dramatic — he said he just stopped "to help three strangers on the side of the road."

Somewhere out there is a Ford Explorer with a very good story to tell at car washes for years to come. And somewhere out there is an Ernie near you too — you just haven't broken down in front of him yet.

Find your Ernie before you need one: GoodPeopleMap.

Source: Good News Network