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Would you stop to help?
SW0320
Member Posts: 2,519 ✭✭✭✭
Comments
I would have stopped to help. 1130am on Sunday, why not. I help people all the time, and i decline to stop a lot too! Depends on the area, time of day, and the people themselves.
BUT I always have my carry gun, AND my wife with me(she carries too)! She stays at our vehicle while I help, she keeps a keen eye on everything.
It has almost become too dangerous to help anyone now however. I may get involved in something crazy one day, but when i offer help.....I have armed backup and survey the entire area before approaching.
Yes. I still stop and help when I can. Not going to let a few bad folks stop me.
Never let them get the drop on you.
Hell of a story, darn sad. I really don't see to many "stranded" people anymore because of the cell phones and can't remember when I actually did assist, many years ago though.
When I was younger I could not count the times I stopped to help some one no matter the time or weather
No way Any more I would call the Leo and pass along directions
Even when I was younger someone hiding just out of sight as there counterpart usually a female would get some one to pull over then come out of hiding to rob or steal the car was rare but did happen
I live in the "sticks".
I will stop.
It doesn't mean that I will help though.
Winter snow, you are stuck, I will let you hook up to your vehicle to pull you out. I will not hook up to that persons vehicle to help them.
I will take them or call someone for them but, I will not hook up to them.
Would really depend on the location🤨
My Nissan pickup threw a fan belt in Anderson Co SC. While I was on the side of the road replacing the belts,about 4 different people stopped to see if I needed any help. I was kind of surprised that people still do that.
for many years I have always had a 4x4 pickup and always had chains ,tug straps , jumper cables , and even spare parts as I posted , I stopped and helped many people and pulling out of the ditch or snow banks was common.
as you I would suggest they hook there vehicle . but one day on the way home from work about 2 miles from the factory there was a van stuck in a snow drift
so I pull over offer my help and hand the fellow a short length of chain tell him put it where you want on your van and I will hook on the chain with a longer one .and pull you out sure sounds ok
so as I watch he loops the chain around his grill on the van got back in and waved OK .
for just a second I thought I will just pull away and take his grill with me, LOL
however I did the right thing got out and went back to his van and even explained what was going to happen he had the deer in the headlights look so I hooked to the frame and pulled him out . just one of the many people I helped that did not have a clue
At the same time of day, 11:30 am, a few weeks ago, I was driving down I26 near Asheville. Bright sunny day lots of traffic. A gal in a car ahead of me blew a tire, and in 1/2 mile she pulled onto an exit ramp and pulled over onto the wide shoulder. I pulled in and stopped 40 feet behind her. I got out of the car, and she rolled her window down 2 inches.
She began shrieking at me "Go away!! Don't hurt me." I said "I think you need help changing a tire." She yelled "Go away!! Leave me alone Oh MY God!!"
Gal had been watching too many shows in Investigation Discovery, I guess. I got in the car and drove off.
The thing is, every motorist today has an Iphone so they don't need a friendly stranger to help.
a car was in the parking lot today at the market. Had a flat tire. I saw it was a girl and an older guy... I pulled to the exit and then returned. I asked if they needed help and they said no.
It all depends on the setup but I tend to be more helpful than not.
It is a bad world and things happen. I just try to do right but it’s a litigious world and everybody is looking to sue. I can just see the jack failing and I get sued for my part in helping another person . Lawyers are up for any chance at my house, etc
I have and probably will continue but in a more careful manner. The last time, I just waited for proper assistance to arrive. The 'person' would not even leave the vehicle or make any attempt to help herself and the first responding unit said she'd reported "some old man was stalking her from his vehicle". I had parked in a field entrance almost 1/4 mile away after she refused my questions about the obviously flat tire. I wasted 1/2 hour(typical response time around here) making sure she was OK and the witch tried to make me out as a criminal.
^^^^people are crazy!^^^^
I was out the other day running errands and noticed on the side of the road a car with a flat tire and 3 boys of late teens standing around on their cell phones. I thought about turning around to see if I could help, then thought if those 3 couldn't figure out how to change a tire they were in good enough shape to walk home........
I have told this story before on here I think
But when I was 18 yrs old or so
I was on the way to see my GF
It was cold and been raining all day and still raining
This was out in the country on a back road after dark
I noticed a car with a flat tire and two old ladies sitting in it this was way before cell phones and no houses close by to use a phone
I did not want to get muddy and wet on the way to my girl friends . Who would but the nice guy in me dang it I had to stop .
The driver rolled down her window maybe 2 inches I told her I would change her tire so she passed the keys out of the small opening
I got it changed and of course I was soaking wet and muddy
I knocked on her window same two inch opening appeared I handed her keys back
She said thank you youngman here please take this for helping us , she wad trying to hand me a whole fifty cents lol
I declined told them I was just doing it to be nice and went on my way.
Of course my GF wanted to know why I was a mess but was understanding I had spare clothes at her house so no big deal
But I still smile at the whopping 50 cent offer for changing a tire in the middle of no where at night and raining
Just one of countless stories of helping people
About 35 percent of new cars sold today come with no spare, or jack. This includes cars made by Nissan, BMW, and Audi.
Manufacturers figure these Millenials don't know how to change a tire anyway. Every driver on the road today has an Iphone, so they just call for help on their phone.
Teslas do not come with a spare.
I was driving the 18 wheeler in W. Georgia. I was pulled in to a scale in I 85. As I pulled away from the scale, I saw a car on the shoulder of I 85 with a flat. Three black ladies were standing there. It was broad daylight, and there were 2 State Troopers right there in the scale house, so they felt pretty safe.
I had a big shoulder there and it was a safe place to park. I walked right over and offered to help. They replied that the spare had been lost, but they had called someone who was going to come over with a spare. The ladies were very friendly and gracious, I think they were surprised that a whitey stopped to help.
I do and will.
A few weeks back a young guy was changing a tire at a rest area, and when he pulled out the little tire and bounced it on the ground, it was obvious it needed air.
I keep one of those little 12 air compressors in the car, and brought my car around (12V outlet in the rear) and offered to fill his tire. He was an Army vet, and couldn't have been nicer or more appreciative. Took a while to bring tire to the 60+ psi that it required, and he couldn't stop thanking me to the point it was embarrassing.
All I could say is that there are millions of good people in this country, and any one of them would have done the same thing given the opportunity and the equipment to help. I have used that little compressor 7 or 8 times. Everyone of them on someone else's tire.
Brad Steele
If their elderly, yes, if their young, no. People regardless of sex should know how to use a jack and change a tire if their going to drive.
Yep, most come with some form of fix a flat instead! SMH
Good on you, Mr. Griggs. We're all working on trying to get through this together.🙂
This.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
I have always stopped to help folks when I run across them....I live in the middle of nowhere. A guy I helped out had a flat and the wrong jack on a truck he bought the day before. It was close to my place so I drove up to my shop and got a floor Jack and a platform to place it on. (He was on the side of a gravel road, no where to get off) We had him and his family rolling along in short order.
He and his family were new to the area....we had a good talk while changing the tire and I invited them to our church the following Sunday. They all showed up for services and have been coming ever since. When folks ask him how he ended up at our church, he always points at me and says...."It's his fault"
The good Samaritan was armed and managed to get a shot off and hit the perp.
Unfortunate the bad guy lived and he didn’t.
I did a calculation sometime back and somewhere between 1.5 million to 2 million miles that my wife and I put on all our cars and trucks since back in the early 60s we were only left stranded on the road one time. Our 1984 Olds Cutlass decided to conk out on I-75 headed toward Chattanooga, TN from Knoxville back in '88 one Sunday evening. We had our youngest son with us who was about 4 years old at the time and we were walking on toward Chattanooga down the Interstate because we hadn't passed anything in miles behind us so we just were going to hike on and we were starting to get a little concerned because the sun was starting to go down.
An older man and his wife from New Hampshire pulled over and gave us a ride just before it got dark. He said he wouldn't normally have done that had it not been for the kid. That was very nice of them and I tried to pay him but he wouldn't take anything but if I had been a criminal that could have been a very bad situation for him and his wife because I never went anywhere without my gun and I wouldn't have gotten in the car with my family if I didn't have a gun. Probably not as dangerous as today but there was still plenty going on by that time back then. It's really just to dangerous today to stop especially if you got your loved ones with you.
They dropped us off at a service center that was still open. I remember laughing at June when we got out of the car she ask "did you understand what they were saying." I said I picked up on some of it but not all of it. Us Southern country bumkins had never heard real Yankee accents in person before and man they might as well have been speaking Greek. They probably said the same thing about us only worse. We mostly just shook our head yes and agreed with what ever they said. 😁
In the old days I can't count the times I stopped and gave people a ride or pushed them with the heavy steel bumpers on my old cars. Cars weren't as dependable mostly due to a lot of poor people were still diving '30s and '40 model cars where we lived in East Tennessee. To pass somebody up in trouble was just something we didn't do back in those days. I don't remember ever hearing of anyone getting car jacked back then.
Those were some tough times back then but people were just a lot kinder to each other in those days. I feel so lucky to have grown up during those years. I believe the Eisenhower years were the best times this country has ever known at least they were for our family.
"In the old days I can't count the times I stopped and gave people a ride or pushed them with the heavy steel bumpers on my old cars."
I remember giving folks a push to get them going or off the road etc.....If you did that with today's cars, they would be in the shop for a week and several thousand in damages !!😲
Yep.
flip side
about 30 years ago
my wife and I and our two young sons were headed off to Ky to buy a car . I had just bought a new trailer and all good to go to pick up a 69 z28
we were some where between Dayton and Cincinnati I was driving the blazer sort of stumbled I was in the fast lane so I moved over and finally to the side of the interstate
just as I got off the highway the truck died and I saw fire coming from under the hood . I had a small fire extinguisher with me but it was not much good . ( I had already told my wife to get the kids out and away from the blazer behind the guard rail and far away I had just filled the gas tank it was like 40 gallons .
two semi trucks pulled over one had already used up his extinguishers the night before the second one also tried but not much help
the highway patrol showed up some other truckes had called it in and a at least one more truck and a couple cars pulled over to help several minutes into it and also used up his extinguisher . the blazer was in full burn down mode by the time the fire trucks got there one huge black smoke fire
but part of the story a greyhound bus also passed us the relayed thru the highway patrol they would take us any where we wanted to go that day free , ( that was a wonderful gestor ) but we had a family member pick us up at the next exit the patrol man took us there .
I tip my hat to all the truckers that tried to help and did help that day, of course the patrol man was great fellow thru the whole thing also and grey hound for there kind offer
as for the car, well I had to use the money I was going to buy the car with to buy another truck ( I did not have full coverage on it ) one of the worst weekends ever I lost my blazer and a truly nice Z28 I had to pass on . I had spend months looking for a real nice rust free original one
oh well some things were just not meant to be
I always stop and am always armed.
I would not. Years ago in California there was a similar plot where women would appear to have a flat tire on one of the counties backroads. There was no CCW in CA, so being armed was not an option. Guys who stopped were robbed. I took a sheriff's office force to finally shut this money makin scheme.
These days, everyone has a cell phone, including myself. I'm not stopping.
2 days ago I stopped at the local filling station to put gasoline in the wife's car. I had just finished activating the pump when a young woman appeared out of nowhere & started yelling: "Help! help! I'm bleeding. I need to go to the hospital! Please! I'll give you $5 to drive me to the hospital!" She did have a 10" laceration on her forearm, but it wasn't fresh & it was no longer bleeding. Her boyfriend, also appearing to be a drug user, came around the pump & joined in with the shouting. When he got too close, I held the pump between us; had he pushed on it, I may have accidentally squeezed the handle & doused him with fuel. He asked me, "Aren't you going to help her?" I said, "There's a fire station right across the street. Ring the door bell & they will be glad to drive you to the hospital in their ambulance, & it won't cost you anything." Both immediately shut up & walked away.
Oh, the hospital was 3 blocks down the street.
Neal
It depends. But probably not.
Stopped and helped a pest control truck yrs ago that was off the road and in the ditch. Seems he was intoxicated so I went back to the moblile home park and called his boss. They had been looking for him for over an hour... no response... I stayed on the line while they called 911 dispatch... When I went back they hadn't arrived and he couldn't open the little truck door. A deputy showed up with the ambulance. Seems he was a diabetic and was just about ready to go into a coma. His wife called my house and thanked me the next day for stopping. He was still in the hospital for a few days more .
Have lost count of the stuck thermostats, flat tires etc i have fixed over the years . Even bought tires for folks who were stranded ( was paid back by all of them ) . Arthritis has put a stop to some of my assistance , and as been said most everyone has a phone now . Would still stop and help depending on what I see and circumstances.
A few years ago, my wife and I went out on our Harley Electra Glide. As we turned onto the highway, I saw an old couple standing beside their Goldwing. I pulled in and asked if they were having trouble. The wife said they had picked up a bad vibration. I got down to look and his rear axle nut was loose. I went back to my house and got some wrenches.
In short order, they were ready to go. The lady said they had a new tire put on right before the left. She thanked us profusely, but the old man never said a word.
If I rode a Goldwing, I would be embarrassed to have my bike fixed by a Harley rider.
Yes, I would help them again if the opportunity arose.
😃
As for me it all depends. In my part of the north there is the call for "HELP" and "HAAALP!!"
I usually pass on the first call but will stop for the second due to the greater need.🙂