Saving some lame-ass from themselves

Have you ever gone out of your way to save some moron from themselves...only to find that your (time-work-money-effort...) was wasted?

.....No.

Why Gigantalope? What did you do this time?

Oh yeah...

Just offer them a ride to the top of the bridge instead.

Yes. Just last week I saw a woman sitting in her car, stopped in traffic with her blinkers on. I pulled into a nearby parking space & ran over, thinking she needed a push out of traffic, but she replies "No, I'm just waiting for my husband who went to the ATM machine across the street." WTF? The parking space I parked in wasn't the only one in the area, he could've easily walked an extra 10-15 feet to reach the ATM. Then the husband comes back & starts giving me a load of smug attitude at my incredulity that he needed to stop *** in traffic*** to visit an ATM machine.

It took an act of will to not reach in his window, pull his keys from the ignition & toss'em onto a nearby roof. My wife told me I did right to not do that, but I still think I'd feel better if I had.

Rev. Dr. Frederick J. Freelance, Ph.D., D.F.S

[ Edited by: freddiefreelance on 2005-04-22 10:12 ]

I'll nominate myself.Today,the phone rang at work and I picked it up.It was Lisle Township calling to confirm the address of the preschool I work at for the phone book.This lady rattled off all the info and the info for the school down the street.She said "and is the number for the school down the street 555-5555?I said I guessed it was.She said she would call them to confirm the info.Before she hung up,I asked her if she had OUR number for our school.This cold must really be affecting me.

Here's my general rule of thumb... the great majority of people in this world are assholes. I have stopped trying to help people unless there are obvious signs of distress because of the typical "how dare you" attitude you get when you try to do the right thing. I can't tell you how many times I've picked up lost dogs only to have people return the effort with a "he would have come home on his own." Last summer there was a reoccurring problem with a neighbor's dog that got free and would spend all day chasing cars, lying in the street, pooping all over everyone else’s lawns, etc. -the first time I witnessed the dog nearly get run over by a garbage truck. I grabbed the dog, put it in my car and drove it back to the address on his tags (nearly a mile away), without me knowing it the bastard had chewed on my seatbelt while in the back seat but I remained calm. I brought the dog back to the front door, rang the bell and told them I found their dog... the woman's only response was "oh he gets out all the time." No thank you, no I appreciate it, nothing. She let the dog inside the house, closed the door and that was that. My wife rescued the dog a second time when I was at work and got nearly the same response from the asshole owner! The third time I found the dog wandering in my front yard I drove him to his owner's house again. And instead of knocking on the door and letting them know their dog was loose again, I took an old tie-out stake and chain my dogs used to use, screwed it into the ground under a big tree in their front yard, attached the dog and drove off. I haven't seen the dog since... they probably got the hint. I felt kind of bad because it wasn’t the dog’s fault his owners were such inconsiderate unappreciative assholes! I could go on with about a thousand other stories, one involving a frantically crying lost child in a grocery store and her wacko mother… but that can wait for another topic!

Once in Idaho I saw a upside-down Landcruiser alongside the road with the wheels still spinning and people running around. It was winter, so it must have hit some ice, slid a bit and flipped.

The driver was fine, but really spacey as his dad was still inside. broken glass and fuel were all over, the fumes of the gas on the exhaust had me concerned.

I wouldn't have done this here, but in the middle of nowhere, I felt compelled to help. (because I'm an idiot)

Soon I was inside the smouldering and made sure the old guy was breathing, then decided that he was in good enough shape to move.

We were able to get the guy out thru a window as none of the doors would open.

Eventually he was out and up moving around, swearing at his son, and going over what had just happend.

As the turck started to burn and everbody was out of it I was really proud of myself...sort of surprized at myself really.

When the Hwy Patrol got there, the guy who was driving runs up to them and tells them I had stolen all thier hunting stuff, and binoculars.

I was standing there smiling like a blood and gas soaked fool thinking it was a joke.

That didn't go well.

I did get some new binoculars out of it tho.

(not really)

I did get a haircut

As a home inspector, I was doing a pre-insurance inspection, the people had just moved in, a young couple and their adorable 4 year old, long blonde hair, daughter and a huge golden. In the kitchen, family room area there is a laundry area, slop sink, washer and dryer, I glanced down by the sink base, there was a 220 volt receptacle, with the cover broken off, bare copper showing, someone had spilled a bunch of water and there was a couple of soaked towels on the floor inches from the outlet, the little girl and the dog were playing right there. I said, you are sure that the outlet is dead, right? He said...what outlet? I pointed to it and explained what it is and he just shrugs, guesso. I moved the towels and went to the main panel, yep still energized. I went back inside, (he did not follow me out, the game was more important,) and I told him that it was live and I turned it off. His replied as if I had told him that I wiped my feet before I came in, he said "oh...thanks". He later told his agent that I was kind of pushy. Here's your sign, dumbass.

If nature had it's way, lame-asses would probably have been eliminated by their unawareness of the world around them.

Background story aside, at work we had a wild skunk trapped in a bathroom. To protect everyone, in case we stepped away for a second, the door was taped across with yellow "caution" tapes, blocked with a chair, and a day-glo orange piece of poster paper (36" x 24") read, "SKUNK INSIDE! DO NOT ENTER" that was blocking the door opening & wall, so you would have to move the sign to enter. There were other bathrooms close by, as well. There is also no reason that this would be a joke in that workplace.

Sure enough, while I dart three feet away around a corner to answer the phone, hoping it's our skunk wrangler, some co-worker with a stink-wish is moving the chair, and unfastening the tape! He didn't even read the huge sign, and said he wanted to wash his hands and thought that the toilet was out of order. This guy is always not reading signs, and nodding as if he's listening when you tell him something, then barely missing dangerous situations, and being given safety lectures by upper management. I'm sure sooner or later we'll be escorting him to the ER. We even try to keep him away from the White-Out!
I wonder if cavemen looked out for the others that disregarded dangerous animals, or just let them meet their fate?

i live in seattle, 'nuff said.

i reported a car with the windows down, and keys in the ignition, and the woman got all indignant out and demanded to know why i was looking in her car. oh i dunno, it might have been the cigarette butts overflowing the ashtray, or her purse on the front seat.. but, the keys were a sorta clue for me.

i tried to report a car with a dog inside, who was happily snacking on slices of wonderbread ~ and was pawing thru all the grocery bags ~ but the dorks at Home Depot said they'd call the owner of a car if its lights were on or "something important".

truely i think i'm going to stop helping strangers, it only seems to annoy them.

Why help a person? For the sake of being thanked or for the sake of at least attempting to do the right thing?

[ Edited by: DawnTiki on 2005-04-23 17:26 ]

On 2005-04-23 15:05, ZebraTiki wrote:

I wonder if cavemen looked out for the others that disregarded dangerous animals, or just let them meet their fate?

Its called eveolution, the dumb die off and the smart get a chance to breed, but i think the stupid have evolved to breed earlier.

On 2005-04-23 16:47, dogbytes wrote:
truely i think i'm going to stop helping strangers, it only seems to annoy them.

my fravorite saying is "No good deed goes unpunished".

Of course the person who seems to need to help can be just as F-'ed up as the person who keeps placing them selves in harms way.

It's funny to consider that when taking a class in CPR or Emergancy Triage...wondering to one's self "Who is this for"

There is a great bit in "The Razor's Edge" where Maughm's character saves a coal miner from being killed. The fellow is actually angry about being saved.

Last year while shopping we noticed a bunch of people all around one car. Being one that has to find out whats going on I went over. Only to find that some idiot left 3 small dogs in a car with the windows up and it was swelltering hot.
After listening to all the comments from the gawkers a lady said she called the police more than 15 minutes ago and that was after trying to page the owner in the store for 10 minutes or more.
Another lady said someone smash the window.
The dogs were now in serios trouble and one was puking and starting to tremble.
So I grabbed a golf club from my trunk and smashed out the small rear quarter window. Reached in and opened the door.

As fait would have it, I did this as a police car entered the parking lot and the owner was less than 20 feet away. I was not charged even though the lady was insistant that I was.
She wasnt charged right away but did have the dogs taken away by animal services.

You guys are all my heroes!! The f*cking idiots whom you saved may not recognize that you are, but I personally thank you.

dawntiki's right - we can't do it for the appreciative attitude of the sav-ee (cuz sometimes the dumbass just screams at you). Gotta do it cuz it's right.

What's that great line? "Character is what you do when nobody's looking."

And yeah, presumably the dinosaurs picked off the cavemen who said, "What dinosaur? I need money from my ATM across the street NOW."

Never mind the humans, at least you saved the animals. I can relate to the dog running loose stories as I did the same thing just a few months ago. Kept a tiny Pomeranian puppy from getting run over. We babysat it for a while till the owners came home who then regarded their dog running loose in the streets as no big deal. Whatever.

off topic but since dogs were mentioned...

It's rather embarrassing how many times the neighbors have had to help us catch our Schnauzer. Or have to watch my wife running down the street after him in her pajamas or me in my robe. I once thought I had him trapped as he was mid-poop near a telephone pole... I slowly approached him and as I got close, he took off with turd still attached and ran even faster now that he had less, err... cargo. No matter what security I put in place, he studies it and finds a way out.

-Z

First of all, rodeo, you are my hero!! I'da done the same thing with NO hesitation!

Secondly, re: the question at hand....I'm in full-time ministry, so it kinda goes with the territory! I've lost count of the alcoholic, heroin-addicted, speed-freak, porno-actress, deadbeats I've tried to save from themselves. The worst was taking in a gambling addict....who stole me blind and whom I had arrested. After about four days in County, the probation department officer calls me at church and tells me (are you ready?) - that the guy was seeking release on O.R. - and had put me down as his only reference!!!

On 2005-04-29 08:08, Feelin' Zombified wrote:

It's rather embarrassing how many times the neighbors have had to help us catch our Schnauzer. Or have to watch my wife running down the street after him in her pajamas

Don't let the schnauzer wear your wife's pajamas!

No wonder he's trying to make a break for it.

Now that the image of dog "cargo attached" is burned into my mind, I will never be able to look at a schnauzer without laughing.

rodeo I would have opted for a much larger window preferably the driver side so that they might get sucked out the window on their drive home.

rodeo, was that a driver or an iron? (jus' wonderin' in case I ever find myself in a similar situation).

It was a sand wedge. Most of the people standing around were shocked that I actually did it. I dont regret it but it wasnt the smartest thing as I could have faced charges.