While i was driving home from work today i noticed a young couple w/ a stroller on the side of the road. They tried to flag down the car in front of me, but it kept going. The young lady & i made eye contact - she looked so distressed so i pulled over. She comes to the door asking for a ride to the hospital. I asked if she needed me to call an ambulance & she said no - just wanted a ride to the hospital. I didn't know what was wrong w/ her but didn't hesitate to say yes. So, they put the stroller in the trunk & she gets up front w/ the baby & the guy gets behind me. So, then she asks if i can just take her to get her car instead. Suddenly i feel completely on edge. My purse was by my feet & i'm just waiting for the dude to stick a gun to my head. I'm wondering what the **** i've gotten myself into knowing i'm my son's sole provider. Yes, luckily it was just my imagination running away with me. I drove them to a house about 4 - 5 miles away & she told me i was an angel & i went on my merry way scolding myself the entire way home.

So, just curious who else would have stopped & given these folks a ride?

Honestly hard to say...while I have stopped and helped in certain circumstances, there have also been those that I've just drove by. Sometimes it's a timing thing, other times because I just didn't hear that little voice inside my head saying this "good deed" is for me to do.....or the other little voice saying " these people could be murderers/carjackers/robbers/or whatever else.
Kudos for the good deed, but......be careful out there.

I'm curious.....here we have call boxes along the highways spaced out so that one is always within pretty reasonable walking distance. They're tied in with highway patrol. For here, it keeps an even somewhat clearer conscience for not stopping and having to try to guess whether it's safe or not.

oooh it's maybe one thing if it was just a woman and a child but quite another having a man there and you by yourself. i don't think i would have made the same choice you did. she asked for the hospital, if she didn't want you to call 911 i would have asked if they needed bus money and if not i would have said sorry i wasn't going that way.

"back in the day" i probably wouldn't have worried about it too much but nowadays you can never be too careful

quote:

Originally posted by Don:
I'm curious.....here we have call boxes along the highways spaced out so that one is always within pretty reasonable walking distance. They're tied in with highway patrol. For here, it keeps an even somewhat clearer conscience for not stopping and having to try to guess whether it's safe or not.

They were on a local road, but no commercial businesses nearby & it was HOT outside. I'm glad i was able to help - they truly needed it - but, i don't know for sure i'd do it again. I guess, like you Don, i'll just assess each situation. On the flip side - I've been stranded several times in my life (in the days before cell phones) and know how awful that can too.

first off all yay for you hanzi and your big soft heart

when i first got my driver's license i carried jumper cables, antifreeze and dry gas and felt it my mission to stop and help folks broken down along the way. i probably stopped for 200 or more people in 5 or 6 years.

when i picked up a drugged out guy - we were 3 girls, we thought he was just drunk, we did not know - and he got violent and he peed my car and he went nuts, i stopped. after crying and freaking out, with no idea what to do, i mean if we just left him, he'd probably die... we dropped him off at a police station and drove off. we are lucky to be alive. and there the odds were 3-1 in our favor.

i have never again stopped. i phone 911 from my car constantly. i want to help, honest i do, but i am just way to scared. for a while folks in NJ were intentionally hitting other cars and when the victim pulled over for id exchange, they'd knock em out and steal the car. sad...

so yay hanzi, you did a good deed and you lived to tell about it! yaaay

If I'm not in a hurry, or I don't have my kids, I'll stop. These days though that doesn't happen much.

If it's just myself I figure, what's the worst that could happen? I could end up in the hospital or have something stolen, either of which I'd recover from. I doubt I'd be killed. On the other hand, if it's a lady that needs help, something really bad could happen to her if someone not nice pulled over to "help" her.

I always look people right in their eye and try to read their body language. Sometimes I straight out ask them if they are gonna try something, while maintaining eye contact. I think most people can be read if you catch them off guard like that.

Worst that has happened to me is one time when I was about 21 some guys pulled out a glass pipe and started smoking crack in my ride. Man, that stuff smells nasty.

I don't think you made a bad decision at all, considering that apparently they really needed help. Ambulance rides are expensive. You made a split second decision because they looked like they sincerely needed help and followed your gut-
But yeah, I can definitely relate to feeling like safety first should be the first priority-

Who knows, maybe the baby was deathly ill and you helped save a life. You've spread your good karma out there and maybe it will come back someday when you are desperate.

-Teresa

I have only stopped to help someone on the side of the road when my Ex-husband was in the car. But when I am by myself or have my kids in the car I will not. However I have helped someone in a parking lot when I have been by myself. For whatever reason, that feels safer to me. It really is sad that you have to question an act of kindness like this these days. I have had several tire problems myself and have always appreciated when someone has stopped to help me. Although that happens less and less. The last time I needed help I was very pregnant, my truck stalled and the rain was really coming down. No one stopped to help, instead alot of people just honked their horn at me because I was in the way. I had to push my truck while turning the wheel.
The world would truly be greater if there where more guys like you out there.