People Suck.

Period.

I had an event today that brought my faith in humanity down quite a few notches.

I witnessed a severe accident today, T-Bone involving 2 vehicles. Airbags deployed in the striking vehicle. The guy turning left out of the parking lot who was struck was actually let out by someone, and when he pulled out, he was struck by a woman who had an adult female passenger and 2 babies in the back (1 and 3).

Out of the 30 or so people around, NOBODY stopped.

Except me.

Frustrating.

Discuss.

wow





good job stopping man. Stand up thing to do. Really the only thing to do mind you....

Don't get me started on what my views are on manners/common decency and overall respectful human being common sense of today's world has come to. I tend to friend people like me who care about others, let's just say my list of very good friends is small but incredibly trustworthy. When you think that people will just stand and watch someone get harassed/beaten/and robbed in subways/alleys you can definitely see why this is so. Greed and personal gain is some people's only motivation in life and if something hinders their "normal" life they won't get involved. They'll see that as time they personally loose instead of what others can gain from it.

That being said I'm not surprised what happen in your story. Glad you stopped though, as I'm sure the people in the accident will be once it gets investigated. As a kid (13 I think) I had helped a girl that was drunk and freezing to death in a park once. But because she sounded drunk all the adults just walked-on by without a care in the world keeping eye-sight as far away as possible. A cop came by at one point and took care of the situation. Same thing happened to my parents who stumbled on a kid heavily beaten in a park. Bottom line, I don't count on anyone to help me in the general population. If they do, you'll know your dealing with a decent and genuine person. So Kudos on stopping

I have to say I feel much the same way, people have become too are becoming involved in anything for fear they will maybe have to actually help a person out. Our society has pushed us to this point we feel that no one would stop to help you so why stop to help another.
I am from a smaller city where if you wanted to you can stop and ask directions and get them, but there has been a shift in the way things are going. Maybe its the news that we suffer through watching where everything is put into a fear position "do you have household cleaners in your home stay tuned to find out which will kill you after these messages" We just are pushed to the point where we just dont want to do anything.
My hats off to you for doing what we all know was right.
When your out for a walk take a moment and say hello to a stranger walking the other way its infectious.

In the end, 95% of people in this world only give a sh!t about themselves

And that is the problem.

Even while I was there, nobody stopped to see if we needed help. People slowed to see how bad it was, but nobody thought to slow to ask if we needed help.

when I got cut off on the 401, I smashed into the wall, no one stopped at all either. I wasn't even surprised, it's almost expected, which is disgusting. I always stop, whether someones hood is popped, or if it's an accident. I believe in Karma

This is my problem on a situation with helping people.

You stop to help, your offer to help means you've now taken full responsibility regarding the situation. Any problems that happens now whether it is your fault or not is now your fault and chances are (like said before where most people only care about themselves) they will sue you.

Many times in the papers, TV, radio, etc I hear people helping and end up getting screwed. Some bus driver stopped in a rain storm to help 3 officers with a flooded/stalled car. Bus had 1 kid in it. Company policy, bus driver was fired for endangering the kid by bringing on strangers.

Others have helped with accidents. Moving people around is a no-no. If they suffer other injuries because you moved them from a burning car or whatever, they will sue you. They may even win. Given the 2, they would have rather died than have lost the use of their legs or something.

So much other crap I've read and it's just disgusting.

My close friends I help as much as I can. People I know are decent I help as much as I can. Complete strangers I try not to help now a days unless it's really small, or some sort of a dire situation, even then, I'd tread carefully while helping them.

Actually Ju, your post is incorrect, there is a law that was put into effect called the good Samaritan act. It prevents you from being sued for trying to help.

I'm a small town guy, I'll always stop to help, last year an elderly man slipped on the ice in a parking lot, people were honking at him to move while he struggled to stand back up, there were 7 cars waiting for him by the time i ran across the parking lot to help. sickening.

I'm not sure what it is with me, you could call me every name in the book, threaten me, anythning , and i wont care, but if i see someone who cant stand up for themselves being bullied/mugged/picked on, I lose it.

good to know that we have that act Brandon.

Bus driver still should not have lost his job.

The feeling of helping ungrateful strangers is still sh!tty. I will still remain cautious when helping strangers that I know nothing about.

You can help, AS LONG as the person doesn't tell you to not touch them. If someone tells you to not touch them, then you can't, not even paramedics can. The only time a paramedic can touch someone who has told them to not touch them, is if the person passes out.

If someone is bleeding, I wont go near them unless I have gloves.

I feel your frustration Ryan. I had a similar situation a few years back here in Regina. A guy ran a red light, and t-boned a lone mother in her minivan. dozens of cars passed by and didnt even think to stop, so me and my friend decided to stop. Thank god we did, because the punk kid who just ran the red light was screaming at the woman, trying to intimidate her into taking some sort of fault. When we pulled up he had his arms in her car and screaming at her, as soon as we stopped, he completely backed off and went back to his car. If we hadnt stopped, who knows what would have happened.

On the bright side, there is some hope for humanity. The woman in that accident sent both me and my friend a batch of fresh baked gingerbread men after the claim was closed and the punk kid was found at fault and had his license revoked.

Thats why i usually ask if they need help. Most of the time they say, and i go from there. Just like Ju, im cautious when it comes to people but i do still help if need be.

I remember a year or so ago, a small school bus and a pick up got into an accident on dixie/bovaird. One of the vehicles was turned over (cant remember which one) and i stopped on a side street. Lots of people stopped (maybe because both vehicles were on either side - northbound/southbound), but they did block the roads.

So i told some people to move their car over so emergency vehicles can respond w/o traffic.

I didnt leave yet, i offered some bottled water (i always leave a few in my car). And when emerg vehicles arrived, i left. They dont need anymore people there to hog/block roads.

There's another time when i passed by a hit and run (again on bovaird). I pulled over and i noticed there were some people that stopped and helped (and i saw a co-worker - an RN) along with those people.

Again, there were enough people on the scene that dont warrant me being there.

If you believe in Karma, hope you are robbed at gunpoint since that is a "victimless" crime.

And how can you know the person you are helping is not part of government or big business? Maybe you are really stopping to steal from them instead of to help them??

There's a person in Trenton who is confined motorized wheel chair, i think he lives kinda far out of town cause i see him out on 33, or county road 40 from time to time, anyways a few years ago i was driving toward the 401 on wooler road, and it was pissing rain, and he looked to be stopped on the shoulder of the road, and traffic was quite heavy for whatever reason, and i was maybe 600 meters away when i spotted him, and cars just drove right on by splashing him, without even hesitating or slowing down to assess the situation, i think someone even honked their horn at him, cause he was very close to the road, i pulled over, cause it was very clear he was not moving, so i thought maybe his battery died or something. turns out his wheel was stuck in a pot hole on the edge of the pavement, and i don't know how long he was there, but he seemed very distressed, and was overly thankful that i had stopped. He told me i was an angel, lol.

That kinda pissed me off, that i was definately not the first person to see him, but the only one who stopped.

Im glad there are still some truly kind people around.

I believe in Quebec if your are first aid qualified (or medical professional) and you do not stop to help if you are first on scene you can be charged, whatever it is for not helping.

I once helped the peterborugh police take someone down that tried to rob a cab driver right in front of my house. A teenager punk of somekind opened the cab drivers door and began beating on him, right in front of me. By coincidence a cop came through the intersection obviously seeing the incident and stopped, at this time the kid ran off, outrunning the 5'4" officer, I stayed out of the way until I saw the kid come runnng back towards me the cop was way behind. I ran down my front porch steps and tackled the person right into a driftwood fence, picked his ass up and held him there, he was trying to elbow me but I was stronger and told him I would drive him right into the sidewalk if he screwed around.

The cop caught up, nearly dead from running his ass off and called for backup. His backup arrived and I shoved the kid towards them, they picked his ass up right off the ground and smashed him into the sidewalk. All this meanwhile about 14 kids on bmx's were surrounding us yelling police brutality etc etc. I never even got a thanks from the police but I didn't care about them it was the fact they were beating on a 65 year old man in a cab just trying to do his job that pissed me off.

If an older person is in the beer store or grocery store or whatever and looks like they need help with something I don't hesitate to give them a hand, I don't have to be anywhere that quickly I can't take 5 seconds to lift a box or open a door for someone. Not because I feel like I need to do good deeds for people to feel good about myself, but because some people actually do appreciate it and need the help they might be embarassed to ask or feel like they are putting people out of their way if they do, or have gotten themselves in a situation they weren't quite prepared for.

I watched an old man drive his electric sccoter into wet concrete in downtown trenton. I went around the block and he was still stuck in the concrete spinning his tires as people walked by. I had work boots on just walked over near the concrete and yelled I am going to pull you out hold on. He was only a full scooter length in, took me 20 seconds, asked if he was ok. He said he didn't see it because of the sun in his eyes. He thanked me and he cleaned his wheels up and away he went.

Another time I helped an old man back up his car, he just couldn't negotiate it and was going to hit a cement pillar at a hotel parking lot. He tried numerous times, I asked if he wanted me to back it in for him and he said yes please it was a new car and he wasn't used to it yet. So no problem. I didn't really think he should be driving if he is having those issues but I think he got overwhelmed and frustrated.

All in all just be normal good people and realize that we're all facing similar things in our day to day stuff. None of us will get out of here alive so if we can make it better while we are here why not.

hahaha I have a sneaking suspicion these comments were made tongue in cheek...
Club DSM Canada, where the drama never stops!!!

Back on topic, I'm not gonna go on a good samaritan rant but suffice it to say I have been both the good guy who stops and the jerk who keeps driving. Every opportunity to help is also accompanied by a risk factor, as someone pointed out earlier - it's not always the wise decision to intervene. My friend was killed some years ago after stopping to 'help' a couple stranded on the side of the road... they shot and killed both him and his passenger and stole his truck and belongings. A wonderful reward for trying to be a decent human being.

That jab is in reference to another discussion where Brandon was defending criminals such as bank robbers and fraudsters.

This again? Did you finally think of something intelligent to say yet? I figured in your old age it might take this long to come up with something. Ok, lets hear it?

And sure do believe in Karma, we get ripped off by big companies and banks left and right, always nice when us little people can take it back

You are lazy and stupid Ziggy

Waiting

Keep waiting, I am too lazy to respond...going for my nap now

"talking" to you is a waste of breath...come back when you grow up into a human being...

So that's it for that. It's sort of on topic so I'm not locking it (yet), but the personal attacks are done.

Was that in Ontario? Sorry to hear though, but I won't let things like that deter me from helping out others. When you look at it from a number perspective there are more people that will like you for the help you give. It's just that the ones we tend to remember are usually the bad results. Some people are just born mean/bad spirited and so forth so bad things will occur no matter what you do. Although I understand not wanting to put your passenger at risk, picking up hitchhikers with the gf is not something I'd do, but I would call them a cab.

Just to add a couple, when I was 18 we (dad and I) helped a family (mom/dad and like 5 kids...you'll see why numbers are important later) on Georgian Bay that had been adventuring on 2 dinghies and got taken out far beyond shore lines because of high winds. 2 big boats (speed boats) past by (I'm sure not realizing the situation) but being we were in a Zodiac having fun in the waves we came to them from their signals. They told us the situation and we towed them back to shore (they were FAR out). Both parents were in the dinghies and the kids were in the water gripped to the dinghy's cords. Apparently had been pulled by the wind/current for an hour. They couldn't fight the current so were just being taken out with the wind.

A year later we also helped out two guys that got stranded on an island when their Jetski had broken due to an oil problem (they had no cell), towed them back to shore and drove them to their camping site so they could grab their gear/car and pick the jetski out. In both instances I can definitely tell you they were happy as hell. Sure you'll get bad apples once and a while, but as a whole, helping out makes for a better community in my opinion.

I have plenty of these stories as our camping trips always had some pretty serious adventures (we even called our boat Greenpeace because of all these weird situations), still go to this day, and we've become friends with some of the people we've helped. Not to sound all lovie-dovie, but helping out people has it's appeal not to mention the ones you do help are usually happier to see decent people still exist than the help you give them. Although they still definitely appreciate the help.

What bothers me the most is how quick we are to look at the negative, throw relationships out the window for our own egos, and forget that we are still PEOPLE.

IMO, the internet has killed us as a whole. Its so easy to be tough online, and spat back and forth.

We are slowly becoming a society of drones where human feelings are a thing of the past and what only affects us personally is what matters, nothing else. Wait and see the next time you really need help and we keep going with where we are headed.

Keep the people afraid, and you keep them controlled. Yes, there ARE bad apples out there, but if every one in twenty resulted in a negative for helping out, don't look at the one negative, look at the 19 positive. Those 19 instances are what make it worth it, not the one that makes it not.

Birth control (All forms) is 99.99% effective. Are you not going to have sex because of that .01%? Abstinence is 100% effective, and rightly so. You do nothing, and nothing happens to you.

Abstaining from helping another is also 100% effective. You do nothing, and nothing happens.

Think about it.