Pat Quist left some powerful proof behind – a damaged mailbox by the street and a note accepting responsibility and seeking forgiveness – on Mountain Road earlier this month.
The note, attached to Matt Purcell’s front door on Route 132, told the homeowner what had happened that afternoon on an icy, tricky stretch of the road.
It wasn’t that darn snowplow again, Purcell discovered, which had already knocked his mailbox down twice before. Instead, it was Quist, a 17-year-old junior at Concord High, who then did something very un-17 like.
His note read:
“I am very sorry about your mailbox. I lost control coming down the hill doing 20 mph. Please get in contact with me so I can pay to have your mailbox fixed.”
His name and phone number were written across the top.
Quist’s car packed a wallop. The plastic mailbox was ripped apart. The wooden post was dislodged from its metal base. Purcell bought a new box and post and is waiting for the ground to thaw so he can pound in a new base and attach it to his new metallic mailbox.
For now, the mailbox is back open for business, the wooden post clamped at the base and held upright by a workmate bench, with the mailbox on top of that. Purcell paid $55 and charged Quist $35, saying he felt guilty charging full price to a high school student.
Plus, Purcell was impressed by Quist’s honesty and willingness to take responsibility for what he had done. Listen to Quist explain himself, and you’ll understand why.
“If someone had taken out my mailbox, I would have wanted them to do the right thing,” Quist told me by phone.
I’m not sure what you would have done had you driven over a mailbox at 17 years old. I know what I would have done.
Split, and fast.
But delve into Quist’s background, and a story of integrity emerges, shown by a high school student whose parents and a love of martial arts have steered him in the right direction.
The honorable direction.
“I still just can’t get over this,” Purcell told me at his Mountain Road home. “Normally there’s no one around here watching, so while you should be held responsible, he could have left and gotten away with it.”
He didn’t even try.
Instead, Quist’s upbringing overpowered any temptation to leave the scene of the crime. He’s a student who mows lawns, does landscape work, cuts down trees and works at Home Depot. He hopes to one day be an electrician.
He’s a third-degree black belt who, because of his status in the program, teaches classes at Capital City Tae Kwon Do. He can defend himself with his arms and legs, and promote honor with his mind and heart.
He mentioned his mother, Kara, and father, Michael, praising their input. He also said Michael had spent four years at pharmaceutical school when Pat was a little kid, and that helped shape his character as well.
“I wanted to be mom’s little helper,” Pat told me, “and that turned into me just doing the right thing.”
Kara was an open book when discussing her son. Her emotions proudly spilled out when Purcell called and told her how impressed he was with her son.
“Of course, she almost started crying on the phone,” Purcell said.
She teared up on the phone with me as well, explaining that there was more here, a backstory, than merely a mother beaming with pride.
Pat is not a straight-A student, she said. He’s got attention deficit disorder. And she didn’t mind if I shared that information in print.
“It’s not like he participates in every school activity,” Kara told me. “He’s an average kid, he works hard for his grades. It does not come easy for him. It’s important to raise awareness for kids who are struggling and working hard, and sometimes they don’t get the recognition they deserve. He has worked hard his whole life, so getting some recognition is sweet.”
He’s being recognized because Purcell actually drove down to the Monitor’s offices to make sure we knew what this teen had done.
After Quist finished praising his parents, he moved to martial arts, thanking his grandmother for enrolling him 13 years ago, when he was 4.
“(Martial arts) is life-changing,” Quist said. “A huge honesty thing.”
That honesty thing was tested this month, on the 8th. With four-wheel drive, Quist was driving with two friends in search of new exhaust pipes.
“It was snowing, not raining,” Quist said. “I said we’re all set. Then it started to rain.”
The rain began to freeze. The road turned slippery, icy, dangerous. According to Quist, skillful driving was needed to avoid a series of obstacles. He said he barely missed three cars, a ditch and a tree.
Then his luck ran out. “I obliterated the mailbox,” Quist said.
He left the note, then drove off. Later, in an email to Purcell, Quist asked for more time to settle his tab. He needed his paycheck from Home Depot first.
“Thank you for being an honest, responsible person,” Purcell wrote back. “Honesty will open a lot of doors for you in the future. People will respect you if you’re honest.”
His mother couldn’t be prouder.
“He’s a typical 17-year-old and you hope you are teaching kids the right way,” Kara said. “Here is my boy doing the right thing, making the right choices. It made my heart swell.”