Tip of the hat to cleveland (Akron, Mayfield: apartment, crime, home)

[Turpentine]

Hi all- I know the Cleveland area has had its share of negatives thrown its way, some deserved others not. Just want to share a good story about the fine folks of Cleveland that I think is worth mentioning.
In November 2006 I was at the Cleveland clinic for abdominal surgery, and my fiance was staying at my friends place in Mayfield village, while my friend was out of town. VEry late one cold Nov night she was driving back from the clinic, through some pretty rough areas, when her car conked out. Overcome with panic, cold lost me out from the surgery, and not knowing a soul (freind was out of town) , her wallet left back at the empty apartment, she tried to fix it herself but it was gone. Terrified, broke and not knowing what next esp in the tough area, she was approached by 3 young tough lookign african american males, who looked, according to her, intimidating. They proceed to introduce themselves and helped her car out of traffic, where they then tried to start it to no avail. One of the young men's uncle ran an auto parts store, he called ahead, and they agreed to stayu open for her. the other two flagged down a city bus, all the while comforting her, reassuring her, they would take care of it. They stayed on the bus with her, the only white person for miles, while all the other passengers went out of their way to make her feel safe, secure, and reassured her she would be fine. Upon reaching the auto store, the uncle had a hot meal waiting for her, and after some pleasantries were exchanged, they helped her fix her car.
all the individuals refused any form of payment saying only: Pay it forward, and/or Welcome to cleveland!

I thought this story needed to be told, as all we seem to hear and read about is crime, bad cities etc. This was a true example of pure decency, and genuine kindness, and although I'm not religious, an example of the true Christian spirit. May God continue to bless all those kind strangers who reached out to help that night. No matter what I hear about the challenges Cleveland has, Cleveland Oh will ALWAYS be #1 in our hearts.

Thanks again to you all-May God continue to bless each and every one of you. john & Shirley

[BelieveInCleve]

Most of the people in Cleveland, even the rough areas, are good people. Even a lot of the criminals are good people that took the wrong route due to family issues, and poverty. The city has a serious problem with poverty, and single parent households. People need money and they will do whatever it takes to make money and survive. If the city could help to bring more jobs, and lower the poverty rate, i think a lot of people will turn away from selling drugs, killing, and robbing people, because they wont need to anymore.

Anyways, that was a good story that you told, one of the untold stories from the Eastside that people in the news dont seem to mention anything like it.

[crag73]

Great story,glad to finally hear something positive about Cleveland and it's people. I'm relocating to Cleveland and I read alot of negetive comments coming from the city residents.

[CTownNative]

That is a very good story,and like crag73 siad its good to finally hear a positive story about Cleveland.I can tell you this though,I bet this type of thing happens more often then you think,the news people just want to talk about the bad,never the good stories like this.Im from Cleveland and I can tell you that people are very nice in Cleveland.Everyone tries to help one another out,not always by giving money because not everyone's got alot of it around the Cleveland area,but by just being good neighbors to each other.

[twange]

Cleveland has some A+ folks for sure. That's what happens when the rest of the country makes fun of you for a whole generation...Clevelanders are a tough bunch. They can take a lot and they have big hearts. I've always been very proud to be from there

Great story!

[complexsimplicity]

That was a wonderful story. Like Ctownnative said, that probably does happen more than you think. The news does not care, all they want to do is talk about the negative things that go on. They really went out of their way to make sure she was taken care of. Thanks for sharing that with us!

[BelieveInCleve]

The thing I hate is all of the negative things people say about Cleveland. Cleveland is poor, dirty, ghetto, very dangerous, rundown, polluted, the river caught on fire, the sports teams never win, theres no jobs, its either too hot or too cold, the people cant drive, the people are mean.. and the list goes on for days. That stuff I dont just here from other areas but our own people say it. There are a lot of nice areas and nice people in the Cleveland area. and some people think that Cleveland is smaller than it is. the Cleveland-Akron area has 3 million people, and its the 15th most populated area in the country.

People also say that New Yorkers are the meanest people and Ive been there a couple times and people there seem even nicer than people do here. Noone was mean to me or anyone I saw in New York, and all people did was help other people out. So that shows that you cant believe everything you hear.

[chocolat]

I agree with BelieveInCleve, I was born and raised in Cleveland. I moved away when I was 23 just to live a little. I never thought I would be away soooo long. I miss home and have plans to return as soon as I'm finished with school here in Arizona. The way the economy is, I decided to take up nursing. I always thought Cleveland was beautiful. I tell my husband all the time that people don't know what they're talkig about because of course he's heard some bad things. I showed him pics from this forum as well. We have the best people in Cleveland. Always friendly and willing to help others. Crime is everywhere around this country and from my experience of living in New Mexico and Arizona, Cleveland is a whole lot safer. (Seriously)

[Jethro Tull]

That was a good story. I have lived in Cleveland my whole life, and I really think it's a great city.

[airics]

Originally Posted by chocolat

my experience of living in New Mexico and Arizona, Cleveland is a whole lot safer. (Seriously)

do you have a source or is this your opinion, because stats say otherwise