Pay it forward.....are you a good samaritan?

[Baz]

I just saw this video - apparently from Russia....

Clips of a motorist doing good deeds.

There seems to always be something one can do for others in their travels every day (in addition to demonstrating proper driving etiquette!)

Around here we have Gopher tortoises (as well as Box Turtles) marching all over - crossing roads and dunes....I always watch over them. I once picked up a Florida mud turtle who was determined to go into a roadway - and took him to a huge creek and released him. It felt good....real good.

As a landscaper I usually have a shovel in my truck and when I see a dead animal in the road I always stop....and shovel the body off the road.

Blown over garbage cans are taken out of the road and placed by homeowners garage. I love doing this because no one else wants to...they just drive around like it's perfectly normal to have someone's garbage can(s) in the road....

I don't remember stopping to escort a pedestrian across a road though. I just make sure I stop for them where it's safe to do so....especially in parking lots where I won't be whacked from behind by some clod who is oblivious to the concept of safe driving.

But this video does make you think about being a good samaritan....

[Tobra]

yes

[stuartj]

Where I live there is residential home for severely disabled adults. They are often out and about in electric mobility chairs, many operate them with their heads and cant communicate. They often have difficulty with crossings and kerbs. One doesn't want to impinge on their dignity, but they often need help. Sometimes, just (creepily) follow them 30 feet behind.....one was killed a few years back at the local level crossing when the chair became caught in train tracks....awful.

It can backfire...I once stopped in major intersection and pushed a womans car out of the traffic. Jumped back in mine to discover the ridiculous security system had gone into "anti hijack" mode and immobiliised the car...now I was stuck in the middle of the major intersection...lol.

[Mothy]

I was once waiting at the side of an intersection waiting to cross the busy road. I was wearing dark glasses and had just bought a 5 foot length of electrical conduit.

Suddenly a frail hand took my elbow and a kindly voice said " let me help you across the road young man - it can be very hard for you sometimes when it's busy"

She thought I was blind with a walking cane - I was about 25 she was about 85 years old.

Taught me a valuable lesson - you are never too old to help someone and not expect anything in return - I have paid it forward many times since then.

Tim

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Baz

Around here we have Gopher tortoises (as well as Box Turtles) marching all over - crossing roads and dunes....I always watch over them. I once picked up a Florida mud turtle who was determined to go into a roadway - and took him to a huge creek and released him. It felt good....real good.

We've got big ass snapping turtles.

I've moved as many as 3 in one week off the road.

Don't know why since the little bastards hiss at you when you approach and try to remove your fingers when you pick them up.

Still... gotta do the right thing.

[glewis80SC]

Great video thanks for sharing

[GH85Carrera]

Over the years I have stopped and moved some turtles across the road. Long ago when I was driving my brand new 1973 VW Super Bug I saw two girls walking along the interstate and I had just passed a broken down car on the side of the road. I stopped and they both got in the back seat. I dropped them off at the gas station a few miles down the road.

I have helped two women change a flat tire. I guess I am a blatant sexist because I would not lift a finger to change the tire on some 17 year old boy's Honda economy box. He was on his cell phone yelling at his dad to come change the tire for him. I figured his father raised him into a lazy idiot he could deal with him.

During an big ice storm I was looking out a window of my office drinking coffee watching drivers play bumper cars on the street. I saw a lady in an old 60 Chevy Impala slide into a Brinks armored truck. She backed up and plowed into him again. She did the at least three times and I was out the door putting on my coat. It was an old lady that had no business being out in that ice. I got her out of her car and one of the ladies at my office helped her inside our building. I got in her car and moved it off the street into the north side of our building parking lot. The lady was just in shock. We finally got her name and her daughter's phone number. The daughter came and picked her up after several hours. That car was there for several weeks.

Overall I could do a lot more but I just can't get myself to help really stupid people. Anyone that runs out of gasoline in a car qualifies as really stupid in my book.

[Don Ro]

I helped my g/f cook Thanksgiving dinner...that count?

[wdfifteen]

Ayn Rand would hate you Baz. Do you realize your altruism will lead to the downfall of western civilization?

[oldE]

Helping those in need was just a part of the way I was brought up. I remember stories of my Dad jumping into the river to help a driver who'd missed the bridge.

25 years ago, I was looking out the office window and saw a fellow wheeling into the parking lot across the street on a bicycle, looking at something to his right. Too bad he didn't see the woman backing out of the parking space to his left. He hit her left rear fender and went flying. I was across the street to him before the lady got out of her car.
I knew the admin asst. had called for medical aid, but it was a loooong five minutes keeping this guy's head from bashing the pavement as he was going through convulsions before the doc came from his office. He regained consciousness by the time the doc got there.

One night, I was reading and thinking of heading for bed when I heard a report (tire blowing), long screeching noise and the impact. By the time I got there another good Samaritan had helped the young driver out of the ditch. He was bleeding from a scalp wound, so it was sterile dressing time. Before I got him to hold that in place, he had been touching the wound and then rubbing his face, so you can imagine what he looked like.

On the way to the hospital, I got him in contact with his Mom and told her I'd stay with him until she arrived. The nurses predicted stitches to close the wound and left the room, so I asked the kid if he'd do me a favor before his Mom got there. His response, "Anything!"
I said, "If you can make it to the sink, you'd better wash your face, If your Mom sees you with the blood you've smeared all over, she is going to have a heart attack."
She arrived just after he's made it back to the gurney.

The kid's folks couldn't understand why I had left my home to aid someone in an accident. I just told them I hoped they'd do the same for me if it was my kid in the ditch needing help.

And Yes. I move turtles.

Best
Les

[Seahawk]

Nicely done, Les.

My answer is: sometimes. Not the best answer, but the truth.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by oldE

Helping those in need was just a part of the way I was brought up. ....


And Yes. I move turtles.

Best
Les

+1 .....I must be a "mediocre" Samaritan though...I just help 'em get half way across when I spot 'em by the side of the road

[1990C4S]

Altruism: the principle or practice of unselfish concern for or devotion to the welfare of others (opposed to egoism ).

I find this definition at odds with the practice of posting photos taken from dating sites so the masses can mock them.

[gacook]

In honest self reflection, I'd have to say no. As bad as it may sound, it depends on my mood, or what I'm doing. Sometimes, I'll go out of my way to help people, sometimes I'll help someone cuz it's "easy" (example, yesterday a young lady was trying to get air for her tires at the gas station, but it was broken. I had her come to my house--about 2 blocks away--and use my compressor; it was an easy, no cost to me "nice" thing), and sometimes I really couldn't give a damn about the people around me.

I am fully aware that I CAN be an *******, but I TRY to be a nice guy most of the time...

[mikesride]

I do it when I can or rather when the thought strikes me. The other day in a small town diner there was a young woman who pulled up in an older car and brought her 2 or 3 year old child in with her for lunch. She was still wearing her uniform from a large fast food chain. She ordered healthy but as cheaply as possible, looked like she was trying to do the best for her child. I paid my bill and discreetly asked to pay hers as well and left without her knowing. My only fear in such cases would be a server who collects her bill anyways and pockets it for herself....
I do things like this at least once a month....selfishly, it makes me feel good.

[dan88911]

The video was nicely done.
Anyone know the title of the music?

[Mothy]

Arrival of the Birds - it was in the credits at the end.

[Mothy]

Given the theme of this thread and the events of today I thought this quote might be appropriate.

"As the years progress one increasingly realises the importance of friendship and human solidarity. And if a 90-year-old may offer some unsolicited advice on this occasion, it would be that you, irrespective of your age, should place human solidarity, the concern for the other, at the centre of the values by which you live." - Nelson Mandela, Lecture in Kliptown, Soweto, July 12, 2008.

[LeeH]

I volunteer for a senior outreach program. I drive elderly folks to appointments, shopping, etc. as well as doing small chores like light bulbs, air filters, etc.

Made a spur of the moment decision to pay for a woman's cart full of stuff at Goodwill recently. I'd overheard her telling one of the employees that she was a special education teacher. She had a cart full of books and development toys. The look on her face was priceless. She told me that she loved me.

[motion]

No! And get off my ^&*^*&ing lawn!

But seriously, kudos to Baz and all, but being a good Samaritan should be a private thing between you and you.