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Faith in (some) humans restored

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Idaho, Aug 16, 2006.

  1. Idaho

    Idaho Active Member

    This morning I was taking a nice bike ride and while zipping down a street saw three older people ahead of me. One was a woman in a wheelchair being pushed by her son and the third was the father and he was about 10 feet behind them. It was kind of a noisy, busy street.

    About 20 yards before I got to the family, the father (I'm guessing in his 90s, because the son looked about 70) tripped on a rise in the sidewalk and fell in a bad way. His son and wife were ahead of him and didn't see or hear it happen because they kept on going around the corner. I stopped my bike and jumped over to help and in less than a minute there were five cars pulled over offering all sorts of assistance. One was an off-duty firefighter with a medical kit in his car and another was a nurse's aid reporting for work at the assisted living center the man and his wife lived at just a block away. They got his badly bleeding hand taken care of pretty well.

    A Jiffy Lube was across the street and before we had the guy up off the sidewalk they were rushing out with a chair for him to sit on and a pitcher of water and some clean rags to help clean him up with.

    I'm sure it would happen similarly in most situations, but I left the scene feeling good that Henry (that's what his wife called him) was in good hands and that when a total stranger was in need there was no shortage of people willing to interupt their morning commute or trip to the grocery store to help him.

    That's all. Just wanted to share. :)
     
  2. Lousy Mormons making us all look bad.
     
  3. Idaho

    Idaho Active Member

    Judging by the tattoos and other indicators (like cigarettes and tank tops) on some of the people that stopped to help, I'm pretty sure there were more non-Mormons than Mormons. Still, I was happy to see people wanting to help a stranger. I know other cities are filled with good people, too.

    Some people are just lousy human beings (including plenty of us goody-two-shoe Mormons) and this was a nice reminder that there are a lot of good people out there.
     
  4. Lousy people in tattoos making us look bad.
     
  5. sportschick

    sportschick Active Member

    I knew there was a reason I liked my boys to have tattoos . . . ;)
     
  6. Idaho

    Idaho Active Member

    He was the firefighter.
     
  7. sportschick

    sportschick Active Member

    I love me some firefighters. I've dated two in the last year. Good guys to have around.
     
  8. zimbabwe

    zimbabwe Active Member

    Good story.

    A few months ago, I left my apartment to head for work after lunch and noticed a woman laying sprawled on the sidewalk, 50 yards away on the corner. She looked dead. I hustled over and realized that she wasn't dead, just shit-housed drunk.

    She wasn't someone that "deserved" help like Idaho's poor old man. In fact, she was probably a tweaker who prowls cars in my neighborhood. She was hammered to the point that she could not stand under her own power, yet she continued to insist on walking "home", wherever that was. She took a few wild swings at me that were easily ducked. Eventually, me, a 370-pound, heavily-tatted gangster looking dude, and a nerdy, pocket-protector wearing type got her to her feet and prevented her from splitting her head open on the pavement until some cops arrived.

    Nothing heroic, but nice to see eclectic elements of my neighborhood come together and show a little kindness to a strung-out drunk.
     
  9. Idaho

    Idaho Active Member

    Good for you, zimb.

    Even (most) passed out drunks need some compassion.
     
  10. Frank_Ridgeway

    Frank_Ridgeway Well-Known Member

    A few years ago I was out for a brisk walk in 95-plus temperatures when I sprained my ankle and fell to the road as if I'd been shot, bloodying my knee. A woman pulled over, thinking I'd keeled over from the heat -- there had been news reports of some people having heatstroke. She wanted to drive me to the hospital or to my home. I thought that was nice of her, but I had to resist the urge to tell her it's dangerous for her to invite men she doesn't know into her car. I hobbled home myself, but I hope God looks out for her so she doesn't offer assistance to the wrong person.
     
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