Friday, September 29, 2000

:'Tow Man' pulls others out of their bad days

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By John Johnston
The Cincinnati Enquirer

        Everyone has a story worth telling. At least, that's the theory. To test it, Tempo is throwing darts at the phone book. When a dart hits a name, a reporter dials the phone number and asks if someone in the home will be interviewed. Stories appear on Fridays.

        The woman's car had broken down, but she wouldn't get out. Not even when the wrecker arrived.

        “Ma'am, I can't tow you while you're in the car,” Lee Bolin remembers telling the stranded motorist. It's against the law, he said.

“Tow Man” Lee Bolin, of Colerain Township, has driven a wrecker for 13 years. (Jeff Swinger photo) | ZOOM |

        The law doesn't make an exception for a woman wearing a see-through nightie. Neither does Mr. Bolin, who finally coaxed her out by handing over his jacket.

        Sitting at his kitchen table, Mr. Bolin smiles. “My job is different every day,” he says between drags on a Winston.

        The 33-year-old Colerain Township man has driven a wrecker for 13 years.

        Call him Tow Man.

        “I consider myself an operator, not a driver,” he says. “Anybody can drive those trucks, but can you operate them, that's the thing.”

        He's a wiry fellow who wears a mustache, stud earring and long brown hair combed straight back. He and his wife, Teri, have been married almost seven years.

        With his 12-hour workday done, he can relax. Tomorrow, almost everyone he meets will be having a bad day.

        He'll see people whose cars have conked out, or who have been in an accident. They've left their lights on, had a flat, or run out of gas. They've locked their keys in the car, and wouldn't you know, the engine's running. Which means they're late for a business meeting, or will miss a doctor's appointment, or have kids waiting for them at school ...

        Some people take their aggravations out on Tow Man.

        Like the guy who broke down on Ronald Reagan Cross County Highway. He wouldn't hand over his keys; he insisted Mr. Bolin didn't need them.

        Mr. Bolin disagreed, and the man started yelling. Slammed Mr. Bolin's truck door shut. Threatened him.

        “I refused to tow him, and he started apologizing. "Please, mister, please, please, please.' He went from being angry to the nicest guy in the world.

        “I ended up towin' him. I was glad we did work it out, because I don't like to leave nobody.”

        He works on commission for Hubbard's Towing in Camp Washington, pulling a 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. shift, six days a week. On a good day, he'll answer 18 calls. Today was slow; only 13.

        “I've had 'em where they pull up to a gas pump and they can't get the gas cap off. Or they can't get their car out of gear. They can't get the ignition to turn. Doors — that's a good one — they can't get the door to close.”

        One guy wanted Mr. Bolin to retrieve his car from a treetop. Seems he'd veered off a road, sailed over a hillside and landed in some hardwoods. Tow Man had to call in a crane.

        At Brookville Lake, a boater backed his pickup down a launching ramp. His tires lost traction on slick slime.

        “The next thing you know, his vessel's floatin', but his truck's under the water. So we had to hire a scuba diver to go down there to hook my rig up so I could pull him out.”
       

Can be dangerous

       

        And yes, Tow Man has seen plenty of grisly accident scenes. You really don't want to know the details.

        Tow work itself is dangerous. This day, Mr. Bolin came to the aid of a college student whose engine died on Interstate 75. “Cars and trucks were coming by, and they just acted like I'm not even there,” he says.

        Motorists, upset by delays, sometimes blame Tow Man.

        “I've been called some bad profanities,” he says. “In the middle of intersections, people will yell, "Can't you hook that up elsewhere?'

        “Explain that to me,” he says.

        He tries to take it all in stride, but admits he gets aggravated, too.

        The out-of-gas call that almost caused Mr. Bolin to blow a gasket came at 3 a.m. after an especially busy day. (Mr. Bolin was on call 24 hours then.) The man was waiting in his driveway.

        “I put gas in his tank, and was gonna prime the carburetor for him and have him start it up,” Mr. Bolin says.

        No need to, the man said.

        “Ain't you out of gas?” Mr. Bolin asked.

        “No, I just need enough to get me to work in the morning.”

        There are brighter moments.

        He once was called to a country club, where a Porsche had a flat. There were complications; the spare tire didn't fit, and Mr. Bolin had to fetch a flatbed truck to haul the car away.

        After much delay, Mr. Bolin drove the customer home. Tow Man recognized him from advertisements. It was Dr. David Schneider, the eye surgeon.

        Dr. Schneider gave Mr. Bolin a $28 tip, and offered him a free eye exam.

        Tow Man does not forget such acts of kindness. Not when there are so few of them.
       

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