The kindness of strangers

OSCEOLA – Had it not been for two good Samaritans, one woman’s quest to get home would have been more difficult.

Just days before Spain went on a government ordered lock-down due to COVID-19, Leticia Fountain of Torre del Mar found herself nearly stranded after her Amtrak departure scheduled for 8:30 a.m. was delayed by more than three and a half hours, which made catching her departing flight out of Chicago impossible. Now that she’s home, Fountain reached out to the Osceola Sentinel-Tribune to thank those who helped her during what she said was a very stressful time.

Iowa nice

Fountain said she was visiting friends in Truro after touring New York City, New Orleans and Texas with her sister. She had a few extra vacation days, so after her sister left on March 6 to return to Spain, Fountain extended her stay in Iowa.

“For me, Iowa was the best of the whole trip,” said Fountain. “I loved everything – the scenery, the country, the farms, the animals and the people. The people were amazing. I was so surprised. They were so nice. They behave like they are your family. They are so relaxed and they treat you like they know you. They treat you so well.”

On March 9, Fountain woke up at 4:30 a.m. to prepare for her travels back home. A friend she had been staying with in Truro had to report to work in Osceola, so she hitched a ride with him since public transportation out of Truro is nonexistent. With a few hours to spare, she waited at a Casey’s gas station in Osceola to use the public WiFi.

“Everybody was so nice. They were looking at me and asking me, ‘Are you doing well? Are you having a good time? Do you need anything?’” said Fountain.

Fountain said when she went to pay for her breakfast, the clerk told her that another customer had already paid for it.

“I thought I did not understand because my English is not that good,” said Fountain. “I told her, any time you see him, to say thank you because I am not going to be here again, I think.”

Delayed

Once at the train station, Fountain said she felt “completely lost.”

“It was full of Amish people and for me I was thinking I was mistaking my dimension in life or something,” said Fountain. “It was very cool.”

But when her train failed to arrive at 8:30 a.m. and the time grew later and later, she became concerned as her flight to Spain was scheduled to depart Chicago at 7:30 p.m. that evening. By 11 a.m., Fountain was informed her train would be arriving at noon, and a 7 hour train ride would make catching the flight impossible. Scrambling to figure out what to do, Fountain went to back to Casey’s to use the WiFi.

“I was almost crying all the time because I was very stressed,” said Fountain.

Fountain said the Casey’s clerk, Brittany Cline, tried to help in any way she could.

“She said, ‘OK, let me call someone who has a car. Let me call the taxi driver of the town. Let me call a friend who knows if someone can rent a car. And she was doing her job at the same time she was trying to solve my problem,” said Fountain.

Customers were concerned as well, suggesting alternatives such as Uber, which does not serve the Osceola area.

“Then these two girls appeared,” she said.

Good Samaritans

Alizabeth Gates, of Creston, said she was taking her sister Anna Jean Gates to Indianola the morning of March 9 when they decided to grab coffee at Mayberry’s Coffee House in Osceola, but it was closed. Still wanting coffee, they decided to stop at Casey’s in Osceola, where they observed a woman in distress.

“My first thought was, ‘hitchhiker’ because she had a big backpack on her back, but she wasn’t wet and she didn’t look like she had been walking and I could tell she was a bit frazzled by how she was talking on the phone,” said Gates.

Gates said she overheard Fountain’s conversation with the clerk and realized she was trying to figure out how to get to Des Moines to rent a car.

“I felt so bad for her,” said Gates. “She was kind of frantic, in a foreign country. She did have very good English so she could communicate with anybody, but still, it would be super uncomfortable, plus missing a flight and just having the major expense would be super nerve-racking.”

Gates said she had always been advised not to pick up strangers, but she said she felt safe because Fountain was a young woman. Gates and her sister discussed it in the car and decided they wanted to help.

“The Lord says to have compassion and to love your neighbor,” said Gates. “And I had time in my schedule.”

The Gates went back inside and offered a ride to Fountain, which she first declined.

“But, I needed to be in Chicago very fast,” said Fountain.

“She was very, very grateful ... and thanked us many times,” said Gates.

“She (Gates) came with me to desk of the airline. She was with me all the time as if she was my mother or something,” said Fountain. “I was very grateful.”

“I didn’t know what to do but I felt bad just leaving her there,” said Gates.

The idea in Des Moines was to rent a car to make the drive to Chicago, but the Gates advised Fountain not to.

“They said ‘You are very nervous, it’s bad weather, that’s why the train is late, and you don’t know the road,’” said Fountain. “They were very worried about me.”

Fountain said by the Gates’ idea of taking her to the airport opened up a safe and fast opportunity to catch her flight in Chicago. She made it home “because of the love they gave” to her.

“It has been very stressful for me to come back home,” said Fountain. “I still can’t believe how people treat me that day in this town (Osceola). I’m in love with that place now, forever.”