urbandev

there was a car broke down when i was taking my girlfriend home, though a really dark windy canyon road that i live off of...
so i thought to myself, "if theyre still thre ill see if they need to use my phone since its free at this time"
so im coming home, and the cars still there so i go slow past it and go up a ways and turn around, go past it a ways turn around and see that its an old black lady in a lab coat like she just got off work. so i pull up behind her and go to the window and ask if she wants to use my phone and ask whats wrong with her car, she says the lights got dim and it died
she says she has jumper cables, so i think wtf worth a try, so i turn around and all that to jump it... i jump it, it starts, ok i tell her its probably the alternator and all that and head home.
i get to the gate and think. hmm i should stay here for a minute and see if she goes past or not, a couple minutes go by and i see a car coming with really dim headlights... it coasts into our driveway where the gate is
i think " yup, alternator"
so we go to the gate thing and call AAA theyre assholes about it and theyre like "we olny help customers" and transfer to a towing company in napa, theyre like "where do you live" "vacaville" "oh, well you should call a company in vacaville" and hung up on us.
so she calls her roommate and gets the answering machine so im like "wtf, ill give you a ride to the gas station" so were going to the gas station and im lthinking to myself "damn, i dont really have anything better to do, and i could use some gas money" so i say "hey, ill ghive you a ride if you give me some gas money" so i give her a ride home...i wasnt killed, or raped, or robbed, i just helped some lady who was having a really shitty night.
Any thoughts/comments?

__________________
Raoul Duke:
"I wouldn't dare go to sleep with you wandering around with a head full of acid, wanting to slice me up with that goddamn knife."
Dr. Gonzo:
"Who said anything about slicing you up, man. I just wanted to cut a little Z in your forehead."

kurty[B]

glad to hear it urbandev! It's nice to here that people can put aside their "fears" or be considerate and help others out. I've been on both ends of that story; being stranded in the middle of no where in the middle of the night, and just hoping someone might stop so I could get a ride to a phone, or use their cell phone if they're willing, and just seeing hundreds of headlights zoom by, staring at you like you're a freak when all the happened is your tire blew out, or your alternator died! When someone finally does pull up and ask if they can help in any way shape or form it's such a relief!! You want to buy that person dinner, or breakfast, or do anything to show your appreciation of their help!

Journeyman

Hrmmm, one random hitch hiker who was just a middle aged drifter, and one mexican that didn't speak english and had a broken down car on the side of the road (he lived two streets away from me, which was cool), both I gave rides to and... well, here I am. Neither were all that much for company, and neither tried anything funny.

In terms of helping people out, I've pushed a couple cars off the streets and into gas stations here and there. Quite frankly, I always feel good after doing these sorts of good deeds, you know.

If one day I should get shot over doing something good... welp, "That's a bummer, man."

Trisk

Well generally, I'd probably trust little old ladies to not do anything.

In situations like that, you do have to be cautious all the time to some extent, but it's really up to your better judgement. If you've got the time on your hands, you might as well try to be helpful. But if they act/look weird/shady, sometimes being nice just might not be worth it.

But then again, the person in the other situation can very well be thinking the same thing. If you're stranded on a dark road in the middle of nowhere and some guy comes up to you all alone in his car, you have to be on guard as well. As a matter of fact, it's probably scarier to be the person who's stranded because the suspicous person might be the only person.

smooth

I think that the chances of you being raped, robbed, or killed were miniscule and your chances of helping someone in need were huge--as your experience bore out.

I'd do the same myself and if something serious ever were to befall me, that would be a shitty way to go out, but I'm willing to 'risk' it every time.

Maybe one way to look at it could be, how would I feel if I hadn't stopped and helped the lady and then I read that she had been raped, robbed, or killed. Then I'd really feel like shit, whereas I wouldn't feel anything if I were killed.

__________________
"The theory of a free press is that truth will emerge from free discussion, not that it will be presented perfectly and instantly in any one account." -- Walter Lippmann

"You measure democracy by the freedom it gives its dissidents, not the freedom it gives its assimilated conformists." -- Abbie Hoffman

Cynthetiq

people tend to think that the boogey man is lurking behind every rock and tree.

yes, there are bad people out there... but c'mon there are more good people out there.

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I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

urbandev

ive been stuck in the middle of nowhere, chasing caltrans down in the middle of the night in the forest, waiting for someone to stop and help...took 6 hours for caltrans to come back, this was between auburn and truckee in the sierras in the winter...no fun...
so i know how it feels to hope that soemone will havetheir head out of the cloud of paranoia...

__________________
Raoul Duke:
"I wouldn't dare go to sleep with you wandering around with a head full of acid, wanting to slice me up with that goddamn knife."
Dr. Gonzo:
"Who said anything about slicing you up, man. I just wanted to cut a little Z in your forehead."

JStrider

if ive got the time i'll usually help someone out....

__________________
-=JStrider=-

~Clatto Verata Nicto

Redgirl

If I were a guy I'd be more likely to help. But I'm a girl and not into martial arts so I think I'd be pretty screwed if the situation turned nasty. I've never been stranded anywhere before, but I'd be just as paranoid of someone stopping to help me. I would never have gotten into the car with you, for instance, like she did. But I'm glad you're a nice guy who helped a lady out. She was lucky you came along.

__________________
Thought for the day: Men are like fine wine. They start out as grapes, and it's up to the women to stomp the crap out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

animosity

I once picked up a family of 5 mexicans and took then home(an hour drive, not at all on my way). The funny thing is, I was driving a 97 honda prelude, & they are not known for their spacious seating.

rocinante2003

I often have stopped to help people in need. I have been left out in the cold way to often to pass up the opportunity to help someone.

lurkette

A couple of times I've stopped to help people and I don't regret it. Once I was in the car with a friend of mine and we stopped to pick up a teenager with a skateboard who'd missed the last bus home - he would have had to walk 3 hours in the dark on a busy road with no sidewalk. Another time I stopped to help a guy change a tire - we were on a busy freeway, and I figured someone would see if he tried anything funny, which he didn't, and he was extremely grateful.

I think the risk is greatly exaggerated compared to the good you can do.

__________________
"If ten million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing."

- Anatole France

urbandev

Luckily if i have to drive a family of 5 *insert nationality here* home, i drive a 79 suburban that has belts for 9...

As for girls stopping to help, ive had a dream about my girlfrien stopping to help someone, it didnt end well

And i have an upate...her car wasnt infront of our gate when i got home...so she must have gotten it fixed or towed some time during the day...i still have the number in my phone from when she calle her roommate...should i call for an update or is that just wierd? :X

__________________
Raoul Duke:
"I wouldn't dare go to sleep with you wandering around with a head full of acid, wanting to slice me up with that goddamn knife."
Dr. Gonzo:
"Who said anything about slicing you up, man. I just wanted to cut a little Z in your forehead."

basmoq

I've helped several people jump their cars, shut off their alarms, and so on and so forth, I do it because it's what I'd expect others to do when I need help, it's that simple...

__________________
"There's someone out there for everyone - even if you need
a pickaxe, a compass, and night goggles to find them."

Redgirl

I always think to myself that I should stop and help, but then I hesitate and the moments gone.

My dad stops and helps people all the time and I remember once when I was about 12 my family was driving home from the mall during a snowstorm and we passed this kid walking with just a light jacket on. My dad stopped and I got out and asked him if he wanted a ride, which he accepted. He lived right around the corner from us and after that we were friends until he moved away. So I always think I should help people like that still, but I'm just too scared of the possible ramifications. Maybe I am just paranoid, but I always hold myself back.

The flip side of this is a few years ago my dad called me up and made me promise over and over that I would never try to change a flat tire on a busy highway. He said just keep driving and exit off even if you ruin the rim. My mom tells me later that he passed a woman during rush hour the morning before with a flat she was trying to change and he almost stopped but was in a big hurry. Literally minutes later she was killed by a passing semi and he saw it on the news that night. I think he's still kind of bothered by that. Of course I think if he was helping her, that might have been him killed by that semi.

(sorry this got so loooooong!)

__________________
Thought for the day: Men are like fine wine. They start out as grapes, and it's up to the women to stomp the crap out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

Cynthetiq

yes people are killed like that on the side of the highway all the time. I believe there's even footage of an officer giving a citation and narrowly getting missed by a truck swerving.

but the paranoia of getting help and then getting hurt isn't helped by the Ennis Cosby (Bill Cosby's son) killing a number of years ago on the 405 freeway.

urbandev

one time we were going through sacramento in the heat of august and there was an old couple broken down in the center devide, they were sitting in their car looking like they wanted to die, by the time i had a chance to exit the traffic had made me forget about them...so i dont know if anyone ever stopped, or if they had a phone or anything...

but i think it woud be better to wonder if debra(the lady from the original topic) had broken down from a failed alternator, rather than wonder if the old couple died of heat stroke...and as for the kid with no jacket in the cold, i feel partially that the privledge of having an automobile should be shared when apropriate...to a certain extent

__________________
Raoul Duke:
"I wouldn't dare go to sleep with you wandering around with a head full of acid, wanting to slice me up with that goddamn knife."
Dr. Gonzo:
"Who said anything about slicing you up, man. I just wanted to cut a little Z in your forehead."

phredgreen

a year or so back, i was headed home from work, coming up the offramp from the freeway, and i saw an older woman sitting at the side of the ramp, her car obviously broken down. it was right in the middle of the summer heat, so i stopped and let her use my cell phone to call her stranded motorist service, and then inviter her to wait in my air-conditioned car while they made their way to the offramp. as it turns out, we waited almost two hours because their dispatcher had a difficult time grapsing the concept of a car that had broken down on the offramp (apparently, the repair vehicle passed the exit twice in rush-hour traffic before we finally cleared up our location), and soon after the repair truck arrived, and i was sure the lady would be taken care of, i quietly slipped back onto the road and headed back home. i don't know that she ever got my name, i just figured that i'd set myself up with some positive karma for the next little while.

then, about a month ago, as the missus and i were leaving walmart after a late-night shopping run, a small woman approached my car, flagging me down as i was approaching the store exit. i didn't see her as any kind of a threat, so i rolled down the window and listened to her explain that she had gotten off of work and that she had no way to get home as her daughter had some kind of emergency... she spoke in a heavy accent and didn't speak english well, but i was in no rush to get home, so i let her into my back seat and followed her broken, confused directions home. it was a small adventure, but she finally got home, and we went on back to our place.

it's not a big deal to help those in need, but i don't concern myself too much just because i could handle most situations, should one arise. i know not everyone is gonna be that willing to allow a stranger into their comfort zone, and that's okay. just do something good at some point and keep the karmic levels positive.

__________________
My country is the world, and my religion is to do good.
- Thomas Paine

BoomTruck

My old truck had a habit of throwing drivelines at the most inopportune times, so I know the feeling of laying under a truck on the side of the road while 15 cars go by. One time a guy stopped, but he couldnt get out if his car or it would die and not start again.

A few years ago I stopped and assisted a couple of Mexicans who had broke down. (they were driving a Chevy Nova... ironic) They managed to speak enough English to tell me where they were going, so I took them 25 miles to where their ride was waiting. Nothing bad happened and I got 15 bucks out of the deal, so I figure it went well.

__________________
Judge me all you want, but keep the verdict to yourself.

Manic_Skafe

I've done some volunteer work in some shady parts of town and under some unsafe conditions and the idea that through my actions I might open up a person's mind to the possiblity that everyone isn't out there to harm them is reason enough for me to jeopardize my own safety.

It's amazing how much of an impact such small things like holding the door, putting down the seat, and just being polite can influence how a person feels.

__________________
"Porn is a zoo of exotic animals that becomes boring upon ownership." -Nersesian

K-Wise

Speaking as a mexican myself...we're used to that. Sometimes 7 of us will all cram into a car just to go cruising...or go to a party somewhere. I remember we used always cram into my friends Jeep Cherokee or whatever it was. It was kinda small so they'red be like 2 of us scrunched up in the trunk space. Car broke down a lot...he had his fuckin name on the front on one a those wood blocks you carve yer name in in shop class. I always made fun of him "Hey who's that loser pushing his car? Oh thats Shotty! I know Shotty! (nickname he plays ball) Ha Ha!" I woulda given the old lady a ride home also. She's old...so I doubt even if she was packing she'd be able to truely take advantage of you. I mean you'd only need a second of an opportunity to overcome an old woman. Good to see theres still trusting people out there.

Asta!!

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"I love music and it's my parents fault (closing statement)." - Me..quoting myself...from when I said that...On TFP..thats here...Tilted Forum Project

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Mephisto2

You are a good person.

This reminds me of something similar that happend to me about 10 years ago when I was spending 2 weeks in Ottawa on business.

We decided to drive down to the US border (can't remember the town, but it had a funky old colonial era fort). I had hired a large 4WD. On the way out of the town we passed a station wagon pulled over on the side of the road, with the bonnet up and the driver peering inside at the engine. I immediately pulled over and walked back to the car. Now, this was when I was in the my early 20's, had a shaved head, large gauge ear-rings in both ears, goatee etc. In other words, just like some skin-head or raver (which I guess I was in those days... the latter that is).

Now, being Irish, I simply assumed there was no problem in pulling over and offering to help, but the guy looked at me very suspiciously. His wife and kid jumped into the car and locked the doors! I kinda laughed at this to myself, but offered to help anyway. To cut a long story short, we tried buying more petrol, a new battery, checking alternator... everything. No dice. I offered my phone so they could call a tow-truck to pick up their car.

The funny thing was that they too were from Ottawa; about a two hour drive. What were the chances of another person passing by who was returning to the same city (over 150km away)? By this time it was late on Sunday night, so I offered them a lift. Even though there were already 3 of us in our car, we all piled in (the kid sitting in the boot!).

Suffice it to say that they were both very pleased and surprised at our help. "Not many people would stop and do what you did" the father told me as I dropped them off at their door.

Personally I think that most people would.

It felt good. Helping people is nice. It makes the world a little bit better.

Finally, like I said above, you too are a good person. Nice feeling, isn't it?


Mr Mephisto

solo2020

I was making a U-Turn on a busy street in my town. I was stopped at the light and I see this girl (approx. 20) frantically trying to add gas into her car with a gascap.

I got behind her car, got out, and asked what was wrong. She said that her car was out of gas, I looked at her emergency gas jug and she had literally lost a gallon of gas by filling it up with the gas cap (it just drained out, she had not opened up the plug).

So I took her gas jug, went to the gas station (about 2 miles away), fill it up with gas, and return. I full up her tank and excuse myself. To where she started talking about how she had no friends and asked what I was doing tonite. I told her that I would be asleep, and she asked if she could join me!

I just walked away.

Mephisto2

That last bit was a joke, right?

Sheesh... you can almost imagine the cheezy porn music to start. :-) Was she hot?


Mr Mephisto

Diamond

I was out of town fishing and lost my keys. Got a ride to the cabin for the other set by a lady I've never seen before and probably will never see again. I was in a pinch and she really helped me out. I'll do the same for most people, a lot depends on circumstances. Just use your head and chances are you'll be ok. I think the raped/robbed/killed stories are exaggerated.

Frowning Budah

I am pretty good size and have broken down a couple of times. Each time someone has stopped and helped.
I have a real fear of stopping and helping people, but my wife has taught me to be more trusting so I will offer help when I can. I still worry about doing it, especially when my wife does it by herself.