People of Costa Rica

Myself and most everyone that has spent any time in Costa Rica has a fondness of the Costa Rican people.  They are always so friendly and helpful and generally a happy group.

Yesterday this was put to the test when I had a flat tire in Escazu.  As you may know there is quite a bit of traffic in that area and not much room to pull over to the side of the road.  I came upon a construction site and pulled over immediately hoping that someone would be able to help and sure enough, several workers came up to the car to see what I needed.  After seeing the tire, they went to their boss and asked if it was ok to help the gringa and when he gave his approval they immediately went to work.

During this process, I found out that my jack doesn’t work but they went to the bodega (storage building) and retrieved one that did the job.  These guys spent about 45 minutes crawling around on the gravel trying to set the jack and change the tire and did a marvelous job all the time smiling and being courteous.

When they were done I wanted to give them $$ for the job well done and had to insist they take the money that I offered as they were very reluctant to take it.  They would have done this for free but knowing how little they make and how they went out of their way for me, I really wanted to give them something for being so helpful.  I could not have done this by myself.

I had a car full of groceries and 2 small kids in the car at the time so they truly came to my rescue.  This is not the first time that I have been in a pinch and a Tico has offered to help. I have found that they go out of their way to help a woman in distress. Unlike the Gringo that pointed out that my tire was flat then drove away.