A gift of a bus tire in the Walmart parking lot puts wayfarers back on the road

On a dreary Tuesday afternoon, a reporter and an off-duty deputy, both a little jaded and cynical after years on the job, run into each other in the Target parking lot and pause to visit.

The conversation soon turns to an old, gray school bus with a spray-painted sign hanging from one side. "Tire Needed," it reads.

"Scam," one tells the other.

"Certainly," the other replies.

"You see it all the time," one says. "They'll go from town-to-town with their story and try and take advantage of people."

"They're after all of those Christmas shoppers," says the other.

On Christmas even morn, Tig and Jesus have moved their bus to the Walmart parking lot and begin to worry they won't be leaving. 

Over the previous 24 hours, three people had stopped and said they had bus tires to spare. None returned.

One person stopped and gave them $10, which would prompt Tig to later remark, "If we're running a scam, we're not very good at it."

Jesus told Tig, "We're stuck."

Tig said, "no, it's Christmas Eve. We'll have a Christmas Eve miracle."

The deputy, working an afternoon shift on the day before Christmas, happened by the Walmart parking lot and saw the bus, with its sign and decided to stop and roust the occupants.

"What's the scam?" he asks.

"No scam," Tig tells him. He shows him the tire. They chat and the deputy peppers the men with questions.

"Wait here," he tells them, and he returns to his patrol vehicle and gets on his phone.

In a bit, he comes back and tells them help is on the way. He called a local repair shop, Parmenter Tire, and it turned out Parmenter had an extra, used bus tire and a staff member available to make the change.

Jim McDonald from Parmenter showed up an hour later and made the swap.

The tire is worth at least $300. The off-hour service call would typically be at least $300. Tig and Jesus (pronounced (hay-zeus) were asked to pay nothing.

"See," said Tig, "I told you there would be a miracle."