Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
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Chivalry in the 21st Century

Hugh_DeMann

07:05 / 13.06.03

A really good friend of mine ran out of petrol yesterday on a very busy dual carriageway. Fortunately there was a petrol can in the boot so off they trotted along the hard shoulder with cars zooming past.

Not one car stopped to ask if they wanted a lift to the garage. Did they think the green can was a new fashion accessory and my friend was a rambler with an aversion to nature trails?

It took my friend an hour to reach the garage, so that's nearly 4miles I reckon. One saving grace was the sun was shining so my friend got a lovely tan. The same happened on the way back to the car.

What are people like these days?

Anyone else experienced this sort of ignorance and selfishness when it's obvious that someone could do with a hand?

Ariadne

07:32 / 13.06.03

It could be fear, too - how do I know he's not an axe-murderer carrying a green can to fool me? Which is a sad state of affairs, admittedly.

that

07:49 / 13.06.03

Tis true...on both sides. I know that in such a circumstance, I would neither expect nor accept a lift.

Jackie Susann

07:57 / 13.06.03

Yeah - I would be happy to give someone a lift, but I wouldn't offer unless they had a thumb out. Otherwise maybe it would seem intrusive? Like I assume if they're not hitching, they don't want to be picked up.

—| x |—

08:35 / 13.06.03

Well it's obvious that the green can was really a bomb and that the people were terrorists trying to hijack a good civilian's auto in order to do dastardly and unspeakable horrific deeds to our lovely nation!

"Anyone else experienced this sort of ignorance and selfishness when it's obvious that someone could do with a hand?"

Yes, most certainly.

Hugh_DeMann

08:37 / 13.06.03

yep appreciate those comments. But no-one even stopped to ask? That's what I find disappointing. And my friend in question is female. Wouldn't another female stop to enquire? I'm no expert but I reckon majority of axe-murderers are male.

hanabius yamamura

09:12 / 13.06.03

lizzy borden being the exception ...

hanabius yamamura

09:18 / 13.06.03

On the subject of good deeds, i once helped a motorcyclist whose bike stand collapsed as he was getting off his bike(just having parked it). This pinned him to the ground at a fairly odd angle between his bike and a parked car. It happened in a busy supermarket car-park in Edinburgh and literally a dozen or so people walked past him ignoring the muffled pleas for help from within his helmet before i helped him.

A sad reflection on society.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

10:07 / 13.06.03

I remember seeing a kid (probably about 16, 17) getting mugged on fucking Oxford Street when it was absolutely heaving with people, and nobody did jack shit. So it fell to me, probably the smallest and least intimidating person in the whole of Central London that day, to go and help him out, mainly just by shouting in the guy's face until he fucked off and taking the kid into a shop (Virgin) with multiple exits so the guy couldn't wait for him outside. Even the security guards just seemed slightly amused. The kid was in tears, for fuck's sake!

Ganesh

10:15 / 13.06.03

I don't think this sort of thing is particularly uncommon, or even limited to recent times. Social psychologists would probably quote the good old Bystander Effect or Diffusion of Responsibility - essentially, the observation that, as the number of bystanders increases, the possibility of one helping another decreases (the classic example being that of Kitty Genovese). Lopez's female friend would've stood a much better chance of being helped if she'd broken down on a near-deserted road with only one or two other motorists.

I'd probably have helped Hana Bi's biker in distress, but doubtless for convoluted perv-reasons of my own...

Spatula Clarke

10:25 / 13.06.03

A number of years back, I was with a group of people in a van travelling down a motorway at night when we saw a car parked on the hard shoulder. We stopped behind it and a couple of the lads got out to see if they could offer any help. The girls in the car absolutely shat themselves when they saw the two guys coming towards their car, winding their windows up and locking the doors as quickly as they could.

Dunno if that goes some way towards answering why someone may not offer their help. It certainly made me wary in some situations - it made the two guys feel horrible afterwards, thinking that they'd only made things worse for the girls in the car.

knickers

13:22 / 13.06.03

We were once going down a country road when we stopped to help a guy who'd had a car accident. Of course, we didn't have much choice since the car was upside down in the middle of the road and no one could get past. Miraculously, he was almost completely unscathed.

moriarty

15:39 / 13.06.03

I've never failed to pick up a hitchiker, but I would not have picked up your friend. I'm not sure what a carriageway is, but if it's anything like a highway then you only have a few seconds to determine a situation. Was your friend leaving the car with an empty can or returning with a full one? Was your friend walking from their house to the gas station with an empty can? Would your friend be fearful or annoyed by any offers of help?

I'm with Crunchy. Your friend should have stuck her thumb out. Otherwise, who's to know that she needs help?

grant

16:09 / 13.06.03

I've heard that a huge percentage of people who get killed on America's highways are those who have pulled over to help another motorist. I guess the people in the sick car tend to stay further out of the road than the people who stop to help or something.

I've helped stranded people, but always on stretches of interstate highway. Pulling over in urban traffic freaks me out.

De Selby

11:06 / 15.06.03

My friend and I pulled over and helped some people last week. Their car had broken down a long way from home, and they needed to call someone to tow them back. So my friend let them use his phone.

We ended up being late for where we were headed, but it made us feel pretty good and we helped someone out. I like to think someone would stop and help me if I really needed it.

oh and I've got one word for all those fuckers who just drove past...

Karma

Leap

07:26 / 16.06.03

Are you kidding?! Do you know how many axe murdering child molesters there are out there, lurking, waiting, watching....don't you people watch the news.....[shiver]

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