Scared me/Be prepared

[skeetlover]

I do pizza delivery and I was leaving to do a delivery as I got about halfway to my destination I come to a four way stop and there is one other car looks like an older neon with a single lady in it and a confused look on her face. I pull up to the stop sign, she was there first so I wait for her to go and she doesn't move, I wave her on and she still doesn't move so I start to go and she jumps out of the car and waves me down I look around and wonder if she's talking to me? Obviously she is because her and I are the only cars near by. This lady didn't look to clean, and I kind of felt bad because no one was around to help her and I didn't want to help her because of what might/could happen, I was timed on my delivery's and most of all my safety. You always see people stopping to help and getting assaulted or there car stolen. Although no one would want to steal my car ( 91 Honda Civic). Anyway stupid me I pull up about 20 feet away from her and she starts to walk over to the side of my car very fast (I’m in code red by now) I pull out mace and keep it low inside car on the driver side door, she seems as though she is missing a few teeth and I wonder what the #*#$ did I get myself into. She tells me that somehow she thought she had enough gas to get around and she ran out and she is wondering if I will help her push her car to the side of the road so it won't sit there at the intersection I say yes but, It has to be quick as I am timed on my delivery. I pull over turn car off and lock the car up I did not want to turn the car off as sometimes my older '91 Honda civic does not want to start up but I do turn it off and lock it up because its still my old Honda and I like it and still want to keep it and under no circumstances will I put it in a situation where it can be stolen. I am very nervous as I did not want to get into a situation like this (Why why did I stop to help her) and am worried about what might/could happen. Why don't I just leave? Anyway I get out lock car put mace in pocket and keep hold of it and I go over and all seems fine and she asks me to push meanwhile I am watching six as I push and am checking on my vehicle. Anyway I push and we get her to the side of the road she thanks me and says goodbye and I watch her leave as I walk back to my car. I was hoping she would not ask me for a ride to a gas station, as I would decline for several reasons rule number one being strange lady and my safety. Most people say it feels good to help someone, I think that just made my nervous as hell and took 5 years off my life. I may be paranoid but better safe than sorry. It may have been a bad decision to help the lady although nothing came of it I still felt kind of good after getting off work and thinking about how as soon I saw her approach the side of my vehicle I pulled mace and kept it at a low position so she wasn't aware of what was coming her way if something bad was to happen. I could have also sped off (Didn’t think of that until after). I also don't think I did that bad as for taking action as soon as I saw her come close to my vehicle, although I think made a dumb descion to help. Maybe I should be more open minded? I just hear to many bad stories. I doubt I would stop to help if it happened again. You just can’t trust people these days. I just worry about helping and having it go bad. I wouldn't mind helping if I just knew that it was only helping and not having two guys pop out of a bush and attack me or robbed at gunpoint... I think the most important things I learned from this were to be prepared, be fast and most of all think before acting. Make sure we evaluate the situation before getting into it. Thanks for listening. (Sorry for the one big paragraph as its 1:30 and I’m off to bed.)

Mark

 

[Heraclitus]

If we can't help those in need, then we're a sorry lot indeed. On the other hand, if I found myself in a situation where I had reason to believe I was in some sort of mortal danger, I wouldn't want to play the dweeb.

For the record, I once pulled over to help a stranded lady and her kid. I gave them a ride to the nearest phone at her request, which was a couple of miles down the road. Later that day, when I got into my car after leaving work, I noticed a purse in the back seat. The kid, who all the while had been holding it for his mom(?), had obviously left it behind.

So I open the purse and find a wallet. In the wallet I find $100 in cash, assorted credit cards and a drivers license. I take the purse to the address on the DL (not a bad neighborhood, but not exactly what I'd call friendly either) and knock on the door. The lady -- the same one I had helped earlier -- opens it and, as if I couldn't expect a warmer welcome, stares at me in utter disbelief. Her son, who is close behind her, also appears to be confused. It's as if they were thinking "What the hell are you doing here? We'd given the goods up for lost."

I hand the lady her purse; and while she still doesn't seem to comprehend the nature of my deed (although you might think she would since I had helped her once before), she decides to compensate me for the trouble. But as she leafs through the neatly folded twenty-dollar bills, I politely decline: "Thanks, ma'am, but I'm up for a bigger reward," I say to her with a wink and a finger pointing skyward. Yeah, sounds corny as hell; but it made me feel good, and I would do it again if the opportunity presented itself. In a split second I would.

The important thing to note here is that at every moment I was prepared to draw my CCW. Not once did I take safety for granted. I was in condition yellow all the way. When you've got a handle on that, then you can afford to do all that Good Samaritan stuff. It's a simple matter of fine-tuning your situational awareness. No need to be an "A-hole", as Dr. Evil would put it.

Cheers.

 

[MikeT11]

You did good.

I've stopped to help people many times and only once had an issue (gal wanted me to pull over so she could buy drugs; I did pull over but only to kick her butt out).

While it can be freaky to help strangers sometimes remember most people are decent and giving a helping hand where needed always pays off; at the very least you feel good about it and they are more likely to help someone else making this world a bit better (a top notch reward IMO).

Like Heraclitus said though, you don't want to let your guard down just incase they are trying to pull something.

mt

 

[MikeT11]

You did good.

I've stopped to help people many times and only once had an issue (gal wanted me to pull over so she could buy drugs; I did pull over but only to kick her butt out).

While it can be freaky to help strangers sometimes remember most people are decent and giving a helping hand where needed always pays off; at the very least you feel good about it and they are more likely to help someone else may this world a bit better (a top notch reward IMO).

Like Heraclitus said though, you don't want to let your guard down just incase they are trying to pull something.

mt

 

[Kevmo327]

I used to sail quite about off the Florida coast and in the islands and the one thign i was taught very eary on is that if you see a boat in distress the best way to handle it is to radio the Grouper troopers and stay close until help arrives but if you allow them to board your vessel you are asking to be killed and robbed

 

[skeetlover]

geezus...I believe you Kevmo. There are some people these days that are just out to get you or it seems so, just hope they never catch me.

 

[Frohickey]

You did good. Plenty of Situational Awareness, not enough paragraphs and carriage returns though. Man, that was hard to read.

 

[SteelyDan]

It makes a difference whether it's daytime or nighttime, and whether you're in a "safe" place or a bad neighborhood or remote area. If I'm getting too many bad vibes, I just won't stop. Otherwise, can and do try to help out.

 

[cracked butt]

Nothing wrong with helping a fellow human being.

I've been in an awkward situation similar, but very different.
I was driving home from college on a fairly deserted highway, when I came upon a car broken down on the shoulder. Up ahead about 300 yards were 2 women walking on the shoulder, I pulled up to ask if they needed any help or a ride somewhere, both of them took about 5 steps off the shoulder of the road and into the ditch. Obviously they are thinking I'm some sort of weirdo at this point, so I ask them If I should call the police or a wrecker for them at the next gas stattion (the next exit or building of any type for that matter was at least 5 miles away.) One of them replied "no" and they started to walk a little faster away from the road. I asked if there was anything I could do for them, and they said "no". so I said "have a nice day" and left.

I'm not sure what their situation was, but they were in the middle of nowhere with a broken down car, It made me feel kind of creepy knowing that they were afraid of me.

 

[grislyatoms]

Had a young woman stop me at the entrance to my apt. complex. Trashy looking / poor hygiene type. She was essentially standing in the middle of the street, and she asked if I would jump start her car, so I asked her where it was. "Oh, just down the street aways" motioning vaguely with her hand. She acted very nervously / hyper, puffing on a cigarette like mad, something just not quite right. I asked her exactly where the car was and she was again very vague. She then said "If you give me a ride to the car I will show you exactly where it is." Alarm bells going off in my head.

I told her I had to run home and get some jumper cables but that I would be right back. Got home, parked the car, and went inside. And I stayed there.

Not very dramatic, but something definitely was not right.