
The couple let her stay in their house when her vehicle got trapped on their lawn during winter storm, Uri
There are good people in the world. Some of them are singers who donate money for COVID-19 vaccine research. Some are queens of Twitter, always good for the perfect quip or real-talk vulnerability. And some people see a person in need and jump right in to help, no questions asked.
This story is about the latter.
For five nights last week, Chelsea Timmons remained at Nina Richardson and Doug Condon’s Texas home as the region was hit hard by a once-in-a-lifetime winter storm, People reports.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, Timmons explained she was on her final grocery delivery of the day when the scenario unfolded last Sunday. Her original strategy was to make grocery runs in the morning and head home around noon before the blizzard struck, so she could “sip some wine, eat some Valentine’s Chocolate and wait out this storm.”
Timmons, who lives three hours away in Houston, regularly drives to Austin to make deliveries because the pay is better than in her hometown. (Quick shoutout to all the Chelsea Timmons of the world who drive three hours to deliver food to someone who most likely lives 15 minutes away from the grocery store.)
This Twitter user explains it perfectly.
I appreciate the family’s kindness and generosity.
But this line made me upset:
“Timmons, who lives three hours away in Houston, said she makes weekly trips to Austin because the delivery market there pays a little more.”
Fuck the gig economy forreal. https://t.co/N4NBHqNLpN
— Chadwick, the long lost nephew (@_ablackguy) February 21, 2021
So. Back to Chelsea Timmons and the winter storm.
During deliveries, road conditions worsened, and Timmons said it took her over an hour to pick up and deliver the groceries to Richardson and Condon.
When she eventually arrived at their property, she spotted that the house was situated lower than the main road, which meant their driveway was at a slope. Though Timmons said she drove down the incline “very cautiously,” the ice-covered driveway caused her to lose control of her vehicle, and it drove right into the couple’s tree.
“Luckily, I didn’t have enough momentum to cause damage,” she noted in the post. “I was safe, car was undamaged, their property was safe… but that tree was a goner!”
Timmons recalled she quickly told the couple about the problem as she brought their groceries, that she was incapable of getting back up the driveway.
The couple, who are both vaccinated against COVID-19, suggested she wait inside their house until a tow truck came. But after several hours of waiting, the towing company notified Timmons that her site was “inaccessible due to current conditions.”
Good People are still out there.
Austin homeowners Doug Condon & Nina Richardson offer food delivery driver Chelsea Timmons a spare room for 5 days after her SUV slid into their yard. Due to storm, AAA could not issue immediate help.
Richardson/Condon are COVID vaccinated pic.twitter.com/r9ampbqQs6
— WhatWhyWhenHow?? (@Laughinginstead) February 20, 2021
Uber, Lyft, and cabs were also not a possibility for the same reasons, Timmons said.
“Options dwindled and eventually the couple offered their guest bedroom to me for the night!” she wrote in the post. “These people let a complete STRANGER stay the night! Not only that but cooked me a STEAK DINNER! Definitely not how I imagined my Valentine’s Day!”
Over the next few days, Timmons said she bonded with Richardson and Condon — who thankfully still had electricity, water, and food in their home — in addition to bonding with the couple’s dogs.
“How AMAZINGLY BLESSED am I right in this moment?!” Timmons continued. “Blessed they were willing to let the ‘Delivery Driver’ into their home in the midst of a pandemic. Blessed that during the time of a food shortage, they were willing to share their meals.”
“Every morning, when I suggested leaving to a hotel, [they say], ‘Could you make it there safely? What would you eat? What if they lose power? Isn’t the guest room better than the Hampton Inn?'” she wrote in the post. “They basically have refused to let me leave. Every morning after they say, ‘No worries, stay a bit longer,’ I go to ‘my’ room and shed tears of joy.”
After Timmons safely made it home on Friday, she said she couldn’t help but think Condon and Richardson were her “guardian angels.”
People are blown away by the sweet story.
Great story!
Strangers took in a delivery driver for 5 days after she was stranded in the Texas stormhttps://t.co/WGj6q53ObQ?— TECHSON IP – Relentless. Research. (@techsonIP) February 21, 2021
“God truly #Anchored me during this storm and sent me amazing Guardian Angels,” she wrote on Facebook. “I can’t believe everything that has happened. Beyond grateful that I have been able [to] find comfort with strangers during this unprecedented Winter Storm.”
Beautiful. 'Part of the family': Strangers shelter stranded delivery driver for days during Texas winter storms https://t.co/0GCrWc0rxg via @6abc
— Lauren Townsend (@ltownsend4) February 21, 2021
See? There are good people in the world.