Rock stars are probably at the receiving end of good deeds all the time.
Think about it. There’s all the fan art that gets mailed to you, those needlepoint portraits and balloon-sculpture likenesses. You score the most excellent swag at the Grammy Awards after-parties. Maître d’s are always giving you the best table in the house. Devoted groupies are always giving you… well, use your imagination.
Don’t you think an act of kindness is much more meaningful, though, when the do-gooder doesn’t actually realize he’s dealing with a famous singer-songwriter? That’s why I’m impressed with Dan Barkalow’s immediate response when he spotted a fellow motorcyclist stranded at the side of the road. He couldn’t tell who it was. But he didn’t hesitate to pull over and ask if the guy needed help.
It was only then that he realized “the guy” was actually The Boss.
As Dan and his biker buddies were already in rescue mode, they earnestly tried – but unfortunately failed – to repair the motorcycle. Plan B: beer. The buddies packed Bruce Springsteen onto the back of one of their own bikes, and everyone headed off to a nearby restaurant to have a couple of brews in comfort while the rock star waited for his ride. (Billy Joel later admitted during a live concert that he was the one who’d built the unreliable bike for his pal Bruce. Um, just because you can write timeless songs doesn’t mean you can tinker with engines, Billy.)
So how was the hang-out? “We just sat down and he was just one of the guys,” Dan told CBC Radio. Both men had been born and raised in the same town of Freehold, New Jersey. “We talked about some of the old days.”
Eventually, Springsteen’s ride arrived and he left, but not before picking up the tab for the table’s refreshments. “We offered. But he insisted,” Dan said. I agree that Dan deserves a free beer or two, because apparently this considerate man always makes a habit of checking on stranded motorists, famous or not. “We would stop for anybody,” he said.
My friends and I were in grade 10 when The Boss got married. I still remember which of my classmates cried like babies. (You know who you are, girls.)
50 Good Deeds 