That's the way it should be and that's the way I was brought up. When I say crazies I mean
Maryland or Baltimore did or still does have the 2nd highest murder rate in the country.
People get shot here for trying to help people.

 

Do what you can, IF YOU CAN'T.....

SEND A COP!

You can't do everything.....

BUT:

You can make a call.

I remember once in the seventies stopping to try to help some people with a flat tire, elderly couple.

I had long hair at the time, and they got in the car and locked the doors. All I was doing was trying to help...

I think the note I tucked under the wiper said "Message recieved" when they would not talk to me at all, and I shrugged and went back to my car and drove off...

Fifteen miles later I got pulled over by a policeman and had to explain that I was a mechanic really trying to help (I worked at an Import Car shop at the time)

Funny but sad. They were THAT afraid way back in 1977.

I'd have got them on their way for free, because they reminded me of my own Grandfolks.

 

I don't know whether it was a company or what, but years ago there was a group that would travel around our beltway in little Samurai's with yellow emergency lighting
and lettering saying Emergency Roadside Assistance on them and they would help people stranded at no charge but did the donation thing.
One of them was shot and I haven't seen them anymore.

 

when I was 15, didn't even have my permit yet, I was hauling a round bail of haygrazer behind my dads 79 caprice. got up to about 50 just diddy bopping along below the speed limit of 55 then and it started wobbling. dad's asleep in the passenger seat and I start hollering, dad, dad, dad, DAAADDDD! I'm fishtailing all over my side of the road and he says slow down don't hit the brakes so I let completely off the gas and off into the ditch we go because that three speed automatic pulls us down a little quicker than dad meant. I see a big friggin road sign headed straight my way. it was gonna run right into me! ;-) so mistake number 547, I yank the wheel as hard as I can to the left trying to get back up on the road instead of being off in the cotton field on the other side.... wrong answer. I'd already seen the bail in the rear view bounce twice in the middle of the road before it broke into a million sticks so when I yanked she did a 180, jackknifed the little hauler, skidded straight across both lanes of traffic, ripped one trailer wheel off over the lugnuts which then bounced off the trunk and hood off into the field, bent the axle, pulled the tires on the car away from the wheel enough to get grass stuck in the beads and spilled my dad's melting ice water he had in the armrest hole that was in those old bench seats right into the seat. after that rollercoaster ride, dad says I sat there chanting oh sh*& oh shi*& until the water soaked through my jeans at which point I stopped and whined that my butt was wet. I was more afraid that they were going to beat me for ruining a $40 bail of hay than spinning around in the car.. after all dad shouldn't have been asleep while I was driving underage w/o a license regardless of what road it was on. I get out of the car and start waving people around the big mess of hay in the middle of the road while dad's walking to the nearest house to call mom to bring the stock trailer so we can fork up the damn hay and one of the farmers saw the whole damn thing and dropped his plow and put on a blade and came and pushed it off the road for us.

here we are telling stories about how we have helped people.. I wonder what kinda stories people tell about some of the stupid sh*& i've done!!

 

Connie,
All I can say is WOW. Only we ourselves can tell those stories
and know the feelings we had.
Sounds like we both kinda did some real stupid stuff early on
although now you can look back laugh and say "What the He!!
was I thinking".
You know the farmer was saying, "What the He!!'s that foul doin".

 

"Sometimes the only thing we have time to think is 'THIS is gonna hurt...'"

 

I've pulled over before and done the kinda things any good person with a ford would do.
Like pull/push a vehicle many many times..
I came out of the store one day and there was a young woman who was from out of state
and looked very worried so I asked and she said my car wont start..
every thing seemed ok lights came on just nothing happened when the key was turned...
Now I know very little to nothing about Volvo's then I looked at the shifter on the floor and it wasn't all the way in park she had to many hair ties in the way..lol
She was from up state new york so needles to say she was very happy.
After a long day dealing with venom spitting customers and evil EPA Gestapo's it was great gretting a real "thank you so much". Don't know if this counts or not

 

I was on the interstate two years ago in January, and spotted a car with an elderly couple in it slightly off the road in the snow. I stopped and offered to help. They were very appreciative, so I hooked my tow strap to my front tow hook, and placed the other end on their spring shackle. One slight pull and they were out! The man came back to offer some $, but I declined. I then saw the woman writing something down and thought nothing of it. I left feeling great that I helped someone and went to work. About 3 weeks later I get a certified letter from down south; They had traced my plates, got my name and address, and sent me a letter. Reward? No. It was a letter demanding $765 for damages to their car, and I had to get an attorney to respond. There was absolutely no damages, but it cost me $100 to get the letter written. Never heard from them again! But my lawyer told me the next time to have the owner of the vehicle put the tow hook on his vehicle; by them doing it they are responsible. Tought way to learn a lesson.....

 

Thought you guys might get a laugh at this.....
Electrical Theory by Joseph Lucas

Positive ground depends upon proper circuit functioning, the
transmission of negative ions by retention of the visible spectral
manifestation known as "smoke". Smoke is the thing that makes
electrical circuits work; we know this to be true because every time
one lets the smoke out of the electrical system, it stops working.
This can be verified repeatedly through empirical testing.

When, for example, the smoke escapes from an electrical component
(i.e., say, a Lucas voltage regulator), it will be observed that the
component stops working. The function of the wire harness is to carry
the smoke from one device to another; when the wire harness "springs a
leak", and lets all the smoke out of the system, nothing works
afterwards. Starter motors were frowned upon in British Automobiles
for some time, largely because they consume large quantities of smoke,
requiring very large wires.

It has be en noted that Lucas components are possibly more prone to
electrical leakage than Bosch or generic Japanese electrics. Experts
point out that this is because Lucas is British and all things British
leak. British engines leak oil, shock absorbers, hydraulic forks and
disk brakes leak fluid, British tyres leak air and the British defense
establishment leaks secrets...so, naturally, British electrics leak

 

That's why Lucas is known as "The Prince of Darkness".

 

hi Steve, I thought that sounded like one of my broadcast engineer buddies going off on another tangent.
Strange breed they are.

 

does it count i f you help someone while your in your work truck and not your daily driver or buying someone a couple gallons of gas and not giving them money when they say their out of gas....not that i dont want to help but working in dallas people will do anything for a couple bucks for drugs or a drink...growing up in arkansas we all carried gas cans with an extra 3 or 4 gallons just in case(my gas gauge didnt work...lol)but its the same as people not carrying tools,extra oil, or plugs for their tire or DUCT TAPE a must..

 

Odds are good that if someone is "SOL" and you help them - telling them that your name is "Bond, James Bond" works perfectly....

 

Well being raised by my Grandparents....i was taught to give when you can, even if sometimes its your lunch money for the day, but do it smart....you cant trust everyone....but if you look them in the eye you can tell if they really need help....about a month ago coming out of the mall with my wife a lady stopped and asked me if she could borrow $5 for gas (that she would pay back if i wrote my address down for her) , i gave her a $20 cause she had a couple kids with her thinking maybe they needed it for food (the car they were in should have been crushed). anyway my wife thru a fit caused i gave her so much..so i explained to her why i did it...we stopped at Denny's by the mall to eat and ill be damned if the lady didnt follow us over thereand bring me $14.98 in change and said she was sorry for the 2 pennies and left.....im a MAN but that brought tears to my eyes.........(wish i could find her)

 

Theres alot of cool stories in here.

Over the years I have helped out a ton of people too. Mainly boosts, tire changes, and alot of tows out of the ditch.

I have needed help and for the most part gotten it.

One time the alternator blew in my old 97 ford truck up in the mountains. There was zero cell service, and not another town for 40ish miles. People drove by for an hour and not one single person stopped to offer a hand. Some people even honked and waved! After we determined we could no longer work on the truck and needed to get to the next town for a alternator, my woman and I started walking. We got about 3 miles down the road before someone actually stopped to help us. We were gratefull someone did though! The ladies that stopped also said they would not have picked a man up if she wasnt with a woman. Nice lol. We had the hood of the truck up with tools out and its not like we were faking needing help! This was in a different province then I am from though, in the province where i am from it seems like everyone stops to help you. It can actually get annoying sometimes haha.

I have one more of a kind of disturbin type be careful story.

My womans father was driving along one time and stopped to help three fella's with a van with their hood up. He got out of his car and went around to the front of their van to help the guy with whatever was wrong under the hood. Another one of the guys hit him with a tire iron in the head, knocking him down. They beat the sh17 out of him till he was knocked unconcious. He woke up about a half hour later bleeding and bruised and broken up but still alive. They went through his vehicle when he was knocked out, and didnt steal a thing.
They figure that my womans father got beat up because he was a white guy.

This was before i met them all, and they have tried to tell me a million times to not stop to help someone because of what happened to him. I still stop each time, and I use my own judgement to whether the situation seems safe or not.