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| Southern Pipe’s Jeffrey King (left) with Tim Morales. Photo courtesy of Tim Morales |
I fall into that category of people who don’t like asking for help very often. I suppose it can be attributed mainly to stubbornness and pride.
But recently help came in a time of need during a moment where asking for help was the farthest thing from my mind due to being in a state of disbelief.
In late April I got caught in the torrential flooding that occurred in the Florida Panhandle, specifically in the Pensacola area. I was in the area visiting Supply House Times’ 2014 Rep of the Year Tim Morales & Associates, which is located about an hour away in Mobile, Ala.
The weather had been questionable since my arrival, but really went to pot when we hit the Florida state line on the way to the airport. That was about 4 p.m. on a Tuesday. It never stopped raining until midway through the following morning, with storm after storm unleashing more than 20 inches of rain in a 24-hour period.
Needless to say my suppertime flight out of Pensacola didn’t happen. In fact, the plane never made it to Pensacola to attempt to get us (it was diverted to Panama City).
I let Tim Moralesknow about my situation and the next thing you know he’s working on finding me a hotel in the area for the night. That remedy quickly was wiped off the board when an announcement was made that the roads in and out of the airport were impassable, plus there were reports nearby Interstate 10 was closed.
Tim again got to work and attempted to get me a cab to take me to the hotel. After trying eight different cab companies, he found one that said it might be able to pick me up at 12:30 a.m. Turns out all the cab companies shut down service during the storms. I ended up spending the night in the airport.
Early the next morning, Tim was back at it again. He checked with the hotel and made sure it was OK for me to still check in once the weather let up (I couldn’t catch a flight out until evening). Again, my problem was securing a cab. They still weren’t running.
Not to be deterred, Tim called the Southern Pipe & Supply branch in Pensacola. Less than an hour later I met Jeffrey King, the Southern Pipe Pensacola branch manager. He took time out from what had to be hectic personal and professional situations to give me a ride from the airport to the hotel.
I’m still dumbfounded (and beyond appreciative) that a guy I met only a day earlier would go to the great lengths he did to help me in a trying situation. (My situation, however, pales in comparison to the havoc the storms wreaked on people who live in that region.)
But that’s the kind of person Tim Morales is. If you haven’t read my profile on Tim and his company, read here. You’ll quickly see why he’s universally revered by not only the people in his company, but by those in the industry as well. It also comes as little shock that Southern Pipe has an employee like King on its roster.
It’s no secret this industry is built on relationships and more specifically on friendships. There are a ton of good folks in this industry and that fact was reinforced 100-fold during a crazy 24-hour period in Pensacola.
