We have all heard this phrase before: “I’m just doing my job.” The phrase can be used as an excuse to downplay praise or conflict to create common ground. But what happens when the phrase is used in a situation when it shouldn’t - A situation in which outcome will reveal the true feelings and values of an individual or company? – A situation when the morals and ethics of an individual or company will be upheld or compromised? What is the right thing to do then?

Valley Towing.

Ask the residents of Blacksburg, VA or the students of Virginia Tech their thoughts when they hear those two words. I could elaborate on all of the expected answers, but the focus of this piece will be kept clean of sentences peppered with four letter words. The approach of this blog will describe the background of the situation, the conflict, and the resolution, followed by my closing thoughts. This is a blog based on my perspective and opinions of the events – some details may not be 100% accurate. I apologize for any inaccuracies in the story.

On a blustery February Saturday in Blacksburg, friends and family of Josh Carter gathered at New Life Christian Fellowship in Blacksburg to celebrate his life and share memories with each other. Josh Carter was involved in a tragic accident on Wednesday, February 15 in Christiansburg, Virginia. Josh attempted to cross North Franklin Street from the Christiansburg Recreation Center to McDonald’s and stepped in the path of a 1991 Toyota Pick-up truck. There was absolutely nothing the driver could do to avoid Josh. Josh was airlifted to Roanoke with life threatening injuries. Josh was placed on life support upon arrival to the hospital. After a couple of days and several tests, the doctors concluded that Josh had no brain activity and would be pronounced dead hours later. Josh was a Special Olympics athlete and lived his life with an intellectual disability. He filled everyone’s life with joy and happiness and loved everyone he came in contact with unconditionally. He will be forever missed.

After a couple of hours celebrating Josh’s life and sharing memories, a few of the members of the congregation started to filter out of the Fellowship Center. Minutes later, we noticed a Valley Towing tow truck with a vehicle in tow attempting to exit the lot. The owner of the vehicle was the father of Josh Carter. I surveyed the situation from inside the fellowship center but could tell that it was becoming heated and hostile. I exited the center, surveyed the argument and phoned the Blacksburg Police to monitor the situation. I knew the argument was based on legal matter between the property owner and the tow company – their business is based on a contract and there is nothing the police department can do except mediate the argument.

Mr. Carter pleaded his case to the tow truck driver, and the driver explained his basis. I assume that Mr. Carter’s argument (although unconfirmed) included some verbiage about losing his son, being at his memorial service, coming to Blacksburg from out of town, not knowing about the parking policy, etc. – all of which would be true. The driver’s argument – “I’m just doing my job” and explained that it would be a $150.00 fee and he would have to come out to their lot to pick up his vehicle -standard Valley Towing Fees and policy.

In hindsight, the owner or property manager of NLCF upon agreeing to host the memorial service should have called Valley Towing to have them alleviate their lot patrolling duties for that day. All of this would have been avoided.

Regardless of what four letter words were exchanged between the two parties, the decision to continue to tow the vehicle or charge the fee was substantiating the motives for Valley Towing: Power and Greed. Let me digress for a second: If a police officer catches you exceeding the speed limit and pulls you over, the decision rests with the officer for whether or not to give you the citation. It’s called discretion. The same analogy should apply to this situation: It should be up to the tow truck driver whether or not to continue the tow or to leave the vehicle as is. For the sake of the purpose of this blog, let’s set aside the legal issues with the events and focus on the true values that became apparent.

The first value that I was able to assume a conclusion was that Valley Towing operates on greed. The driver knows that for each car that he returns to the Valley Towing lot is equal $150 or more for his company. Thus, if he does his job, he gets paid, as does everyone else working for Valley Towing. That’s the way business operates - succeed and get paid. It is a volume based business and relies on the mistakes and ability to overlook a stated policy on a pole. As I observed the situation, I could assume the driver wanted his money and that he would not and did not want to back down from his stance.

The second value looked to become more apparent as time went on. Power. The drivers of Valley Towing seem to salivate over the fact that they have the power to ruin someone’s day. This driver happened to showcase his power of being a tow truck driver to someone who had just lost his son in a tragic accident days before. He also made his decision to show his power during the time that we were remembering and celebrating his son’s life at a Christian Fellowship center.

If I was in the driver’s shoes, and I heard an irate father questioning my judgment to remove his vehicle from the location of his son’s memorial service, I would have acted differently – and I think that I can get a majority of people to agree with my stance. Why did the driver not take a breath, step back, and think “Wow, I feel really bad for doing this. I should cut this guy a break!”? How did the driver not think twice? Mr. Carter had to bury his son after a horrific accident – something that very few parents even think of having to go through! He was in the middle of celebrating his sons’ life and had not been to Blacksburg many times – why would he know anything about the parking situation or even think of the relevancy during this time?

I question the driver’s true morals – it seemed as if he operates on greed and power and has no soul or feelings or compassion or respect for others – ESPECIALLY during an extremely difficult time for the friends and family of Josh Carter. I understand that he and other drivers of Valley Towing are presented with excuses from all across the excuse spectrum. But how, sir, can you ignore this excuse? How can he sleep at night knowing that his apparent showcase of power and greed ruined a moment where Mr. Carter is still grieving over his sons’ death by being disrespectful? I doubt that the driver even had a feeling of remorse or compassion or even felt sorry for Mr. Carter. That driver appeared to have no soul – no feelings for others – he appeared thick skinned, and conveyed himself as the epitome of a heartless person. It’s apparent that the values and the morals of Valley Towing are a result of top-down flow – as is the values of all companies. The entire company appears to be built upon greed and power and disrespect.

I challenge all businesses in Blacksburg to align their values with that of Valley Towing. I bet the values do not match. A business owner should want to do business with a company who is ethical and moral – not one operating for greed and power. Greed and power are two values that are a reason for why the banking industry collapsed in 2008 and will bring down all business who operate in a similar fashion.

To all business owners in Blacksburg that utilize Valley Towing for their parking enforcement needs: Look at the company that you are paying to be in charge of your parking situation. Your parking situation may be clear, but how could you be proud, as a business owner, of associating your name with theirs?

Think of how your individual actions and the decisions you make can impact the perception of the company you work for.



Break Bread