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Old 02-22-2014, 08:04 AM
 
1 posts, read 917 times
Reputation: 10

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This morning in Lansing, MI I was driving down a street in the morning hours and saw a van on the side of the road and there was a man trying to wave someone down for help. There were multiple SUV's behind and on the side of me in the first lane but none of them stopped for the man asking for help. I slowly but cautiously came back to the van with the man that was asking for help. I pulled down my window and asked if he needed help. He asked if we had a big too to try to move his car (It was on a mound of frozen hard snow). I didn't have any tools but I asked if there is someone that I can call to help you. A tow truck or something. He stated to me, No, but thank you for stopping. This isn't the first time that I have been riding along and someone is asking for help and others, mostly men hear will not even stop to help, but I will see a woman try to stop to see if someone could help. I don't know what happened to this city. It didn't always use to be like this but now it's almost the norm and people are less likely to help someone in need. I know the economy is bad and people have way less than they use to but sometimes, a simple call or waiting with them till help arrives is more helpful than money. Also, lastly the trucks that went past the man waving for help had men driving the trucks and SUV's. Is society really becoming every man for himself (till they need help) and God for us all.
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Old 02-22-2014, 09:05 AM
 
1,068 posts, read 2,067,708 times
Reputation: 964
You won't see that sort of behavior where I live (the U.P.), but I think a lot of it has to do with the worry people have of....I don't know, being robbed, etc.- sort of wondering if the person needing help is some sort of set up, or something. Sad but true. People, especially people in the bigger cities, don't trust anyone, anymore.
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Old 02-22-2014, 09:11 AM
 
Location: West Michigan
12,082 posts, read 38,722,430 times
Reputation: 17006
I see examples of people helping each other every single day.
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Old 02-22-2014, 01:35 PM
 
Location: SE Michigan
6,191 posts, read 18,092,948 times
Reputation: 10355
I have often in the past (including the very recent past, about three weeks ago) stopped to help fellow motorists stuck in snow or whatever. And I have ditto had people stop to help me out. And one nice thing I have observed over the last winter, with the big snowstorm and most of my neighborhood losing power during the ice storm (Genesee county) was how things like this really bring out the good in many people when the s**t hits the fan.

That said I am probably less likely to stop for broken-down motorists nowadays. For one thing, I don't have much mechanical experience. Also, the vast majority of people now have cell phones so they can call friends/towing services/whomever for help when they have trouble on the road.

I see random acts of kindness most days, now that I think of it. No different that it's ever been.
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Old 02-23-2014, 01:20 PM
 
Location: Grand Rapids Metro
8,882 posts, read 19,775,119 times
Reputation: 3920
Quote:
Originally Posted by guideinthelight25 View Post
This morning in Lansing, MI I was driving down a street in the morning hours and saw a van on the side of the road and there was a man trying to wave someone down for help. There were multiple SUV's behind and on the side of me in the first lane but none of them stopped for the man asking for help. I slowly but cautiously came back to the van with the man that was asking for help. I pulled down my window and asked if he needed help. He asked if we had a big too to try to move his car (It was on a mound of frozen hard snow). I didn't have any tools but I asked if there is someone that I can call to help you. A tow truck or something. He stated to me, No, but thank you for stopping. This isn't the first time that I have been riding along and someone is asking for help and others, mostly men hear will not even stop to help, but I will see a woman try to stop to see if someone could help. I don't know what happened to this city. It didn't always use to be like this but now it's almost the norm and people are less likely to help someone in need. I know the economy is bad and people have way less than they use to but sometimes, a simple call or waiting with them till help arrives is more helpful than money. Also, lastly the trucks that went past the man waving for help had men driving the trucks and SUV's. Is society really becoming every man for himself (till they need help) and God for us all.
The best thing they suggest doing is stopping and calling a tow truck for the person and a police car will usually be notified as well, and stay in your car. People use the "broken down car along the side of the road" as a ruse to carjack people. Plus, I've heard that if you pull someone out of a ditch or similar situation that could be determined an accident, without using a tow truck or notifying the police, you can get a ticket (the person may have been intoxicated and you just put them back on the road).

This winter I've seen a lot of people helping neighbors and others who are stuck in the snow, shoveling and snow blowing each other's driveways and sidewalks, and I personally have helped push 1/2 a dozen people out of deep snow.

It's all good.
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Old 02-23-2014, 09:53 PM
 
Location: Back in the Mitten. Formerly NC
3,830 posts, read 6,693,642 times
Reputation: 5367
I'm currently commuting 90 miles to work, each way. Tuesday night with the bad snow up around the Tri-City area, I decided to stop and get a hotel room (15 miles took me about an hour due to the poor visibility). The next morning, I got stuck in a snowbank in the hotel parking lot while getting my car out of the parking spot. I was out digging with my scraper/brush and hands for about an hour and three different people walked by just looking at me. No one offered to help. I went into the front desk, explained what happened, and asked for a shovel. She seemed inconvenienced. People were so rude! I ended up calling to get towed out
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