Do People Give a Crap Anymore??
 

So I was cruising down the interstate, and I see a car parked on the shoulder. 1/4 mile away, seen a guy carrying a gas can all the while vehicles are blowing right by him. I decide to pull over and give him a lift the 2 miles to the station (sure beats having him get hit, yes??). Load up, get him there, even offered to give him a lift back. Hell, why not, trying to be a responsible human. :)

He was shocked that I run him back to his car, but I didn't want to find him on the obit in the Billings Gazette. So that was my good deed for the day. :)

The world needs more people like you Bill. :tu:

well, i try to help out when i can. that being said, i have an idea why most folk would just keep driving. you never know if that innocent looking feller with the gas can is actually an escaped psychopath from western state hospital (insert your local funny farm hear) just waiting to go buffalo bob on your ass.

I try to stop for people alot sometimes im to buisy but I stop at least twice a month especially if its a diesel truck or a hot chick. this summer I was driving to yankton SD to hel my uncle sandbag his house for the missori flood and I get just out side of madison NE and the speedo starts reading 120mph and all the gauges start freakin out so i shut it down and then I try to restart the truck and CLICK wont turnover. I didnt even get a chance to open the hood and a good ole boy in a 2001 24v flips a bitch and asked if we needed any help. He tryed giving us a jump, he tryed to pull start the truck, and then he helped us figure out the problem wich was a locked up AC compressor after that he helped me remove the belt and followed me 10 miles into madison when we got there I tryed like hell to give him 100 bucks he just would not take it. Then we got up in the morning after sleeping in a gas station parking lot and walked across the street to the local tractor junkyard to see if they had a belt to bypass the AC, they didnt. the old man sent one ofe his employees to norfolk to get us a belt free of charge but of coarse we paid him extra, non of this would ever happen here in denver

heres my thoughts on people carry gas cans, not only on interstates, but on highways and county roads....how many stores do you pass, that SELL GAS? i see people ever day that will run out of gas, between 2 stores that not even 3 miles apart...and yes, carrying a gas can or fillin the car up...really? wtf goes through some peoples heads..cars have a fuel gauge for a reason, and just about all vehicles have idiot lights on there too...that dont mean to keep driving...im not against helpin people by any means, esp when it comes to a lady or an elderly person, but some people you can just look at and automatically know, it should be against the law for them to reproduce :argh:

You might think differently if it were you with only two dollars to your name. They can see the low fuel light. Baby needs some formula. Gotta get to work. :ouch: :s:

I was thinking that very thing. I get my personal gas from Walmart/Murphy, and I see folks putting in $1.20. That's a scoshe over 1/3 of a gallon. But man, you can tell that 1/3 of a gallon is like a 5 acre lake to someone stuck in the dessert.
You do have a point, cumminscontrol, and I know what you're saying. But not everyone can just go fill up. There've been plenty of times like that for myself. Need a vehicle to get to work, but can't afford to run and maintain that vehicle. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

I stop more often if I am by myself. If the wife and kid are with me i will not stop unless I can make it very safe for them first. I wish we could go back the way it was years back .... no locked doors and keys in all my vehicles........

A few times a week I see a vehicle on the side of the road in distress. I really want to stop and ask if I can help out. Heck, I'm driving a service truck with litterally tons of tools, parts, and fluids on board. Unfortunatly, I would get in trouble from the company I work for. It would be a "conflict of interest" according to them. I do feel guilty moving a lane over and driving by.:td:

I would like to stop when it looks like someone needs help, however, being a woman, I won't, but I say a prayer that someone decent will. I feel guilty, but I wont take the chance that it's not a nice person with a small pocketbook, which it probably is.

I try to stop every now and then..

if I feel I can help and have the time I will, usually once every few months. been less and less lately since I usually have a kid with me. I live at the top of a small hill and that bit of an incline seems to make an tank that was on E go below and stall out, a mere 1/4 mile from the gas station, I have handed out my fair share of gas to people who ran out right in front of my driveway :tu:

hell, one night around 11pm a guy blew his engine on the side street, water leaking everywhere smoke and steam pouring out and as much as I tried to tell him adding water aint gonna make it start I still hooked up the hose and let em take as much water as he felt he needed, let em know if he needed to call for a tow he could use my phone and just knock.

but there are a lot of people out there just getting by, i've been there quite a few times where that last $5 i have is just enough to get me to work and back before i get paid again.. less costs more now a days.


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Around the small community I live in I will usually will stop and try to help if the hoods up or a flat tire. If it's young men I chances are I won't stop, normally just the elderly or women. It kind of matters where they are also.

Here a few years ago, I was headed back to town and there was a truck/trailer on the side of the road. Stopped to see what was up, and they had a flat on the trailer. They didn't have quite the right iron to break the nuts loose, so I grabbed my 4 way, and it somehow had the right size end. I tell ya what, they were might thankful when I dug it out :D.

Stuff like that, makes a person feel good inside. :c:

You never know where angels tread. ;)

i see your point, and im not arguing with anybody...family comes first, but people know they have to work the next day, they know on the way home, damn im gettin low on fuel...i 20 and 30 my tank like crazy, but i know when to stop and throw a couple gallon in...you can never trust that light...i used to work in a pawn shop and people would bring stuff in there, like a ragged a$$ window a/c unit...pawn it for 4 or 5 bucks, just to go get a pack of cigs, when their kids are runnin around starvin and nasty and cold...its that kinda crap that pisses me off...thats why i said some people should not be able to reproduce...my kids come first

I dont stop much anymore. In my little home town I would but not so much up here unless it is an old person or a girl. I got a gimp leg now and couldnt defend myself if I had to.

I'm in the same position as you.

Me too. I always feel bad, but I have a family to provide for too. Can't afford to loose my job. :nope:

Not all fuel gauges work correctly or even at all. Some vehicles get shared by more than one driver. Fuel is expensive. Nobody knows exactly what that person's situation might be.

Just a few things to consider.

No kidding my uncle took one of his friends trucks to the coast for him. Well for some reason when the truck says 1/2 a tank its empty.

Well, last time I tried to help someone out I got a knife in the ribs and robed for my trouble. :ouch: I'll pull someone out of a ditch or change their tire, but no rides no more.

About a year and a half ago I went to lunch with my dad and girlfriend in a high traffic area right of i75. We were leaving in my truck and I noticed a truck pulling a airstream coming off the highway going real slow, well guy pulled off into the parking lot I was in and he had a flat tire on his trailer. It was an older couple probably 70 and they were from arizona, I stopped and ask if he needed help he was very happy, turns out it was his second flat on his trip and was worried about making it to a tire shop, so I changed his tire for him because I felt bad making him, followed him to the walmart and he tried giving ms a hundred dollars and I said no sir, it felt good to be able to help, I'm an eagle scout and was raised to always help when ever you can. If I ever do get into a situation I have my trusty conceal carry, but like others gave said I won't just stop for a white trash thug with his pants hanging off his as*


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I am here:

I stop 5 times out of 10... depends on the situation.

Broke down, I'm more then likely going to stop.

Out of gas? Your on your own... I carry 100 gallons with me 95% of the time. Go prepared.

I try and help older people and thats about it. I don't bother with girls anymore because most of them have an attitude around here. They seem to think they're better than me because I have an older truck even though their new car isn't running at the moment. You also never get a thank you or anything from them. The older people are thrilled you helped them and want to pay you back somehow.

FWIW, my buddy had an 05 F350 that the fuel level gauge had a mind of it's own. The first time he ran out of fuel, his dash read (40 miles to empty), boom, truck shuts off. Second time, the dash read 115 miles to empty, truck died. It was out of fuel. So it's not always the owners fault.

Just read this article this morning, and made me think of this thread, yes people still care: Woman in critical condition after passers-by pull her from fiery car | NBC-WKTV News Channel 2 - Utica News, Weather, Sports - | Local News

My gf subscribes to Rolling Stone magazine. There was a write-up on John Stewart (of the daily show) a month or two back, GREAT article, and there was some comments in there about people that this thread reminded me of. He said something along the lines of ...yes we all have different views, but at the end of the day people are still good. The guy in the pickup truck with the NRA sticker is still going to pull over and help the guy in the Prius with the "anti-gun" stickers, because he believes people are still good. I'll look the article up this weekend and get the actual quote, but I believe it.

1st gen Dodges are notorious for having a bad sending unit in the tank. I never trusted that gauge in my old heap, and went by my trip meter instead. I'd reset it every time I filled up. :tu:



I have a subscription to RS too, and that was a great article. Jon Stewart is hilarious, but he has a bigger view of the world than just what he himself believes. Unlike countless other 'talking heads'...

I will stop to help the elderly always and have changed more than my share of tires for them and women broke down along side the road. I will not give rides but will call for LE or a tow if that is needed. I carry fuel, gas and anti-freeze mix on the truck at all times and will give it to people in distress.
I would have to say that most people are very grateful and try to force money on you but I always refuse. I refuse to stop for anyone that looks like a gang banger or thug (male or female).

I grew up in a small town in Texas and would stop in a heartbeat to help someone out when I was younger. I went into the Navy and went overseas for 4 years and came back to Pensacola FL. Seen an old guy walking past me in the parking lot and he asked me for a ride to such and such to go pick up his car. I said no problem, he get's in the truck and asked me for money to fill up his truck I told him I could spare 5 bucks. Now that I am in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia I will RARELY stop and help. If it's another diesel or old people I will. Other than that, it's windows up and doors locked. I agree with some of the other posters, I really wish it was like the old days with doors unlocked and windows down all night.

I'll try to stop more often than not as long as I'm by myself. If I've got the wife and kids in the truck, chances are, I'm not going to pull over-like others have said, my family and their safety comes first. I don't mess around with them. But, if I'm alone, and I can see it soon enough to be able to safely pull over behind/in front of them, more than likely I will.
I've been on the side of the road myself more than enough times-hell the first 4 cars I owned should have been in a junkyard...that I know the feeling of sitting there on the side of the road, not able to do anything, and watching everyone blow by you like you're not even there.
I laid my bike down a couple years ago-it was raining, my truck was broken, so I had to to ride it to work and back that day. I had plenty of room-I thought- until the car ahead of me slammed on their brakes. I locked mine up, skidded, then highsided the bike. Luckily, neither I nor the bike was seriously injured/damaged...I always wear a full face, and had my leathers on that day, because of the rain.
It was a 2 lane road, and my bike slid off the road into the ditch. So, as I'm struggling to get the bike out of the wet ditch back onto the shoulder, to see if it'll start again, the 6 cars behind me pass me, the 7th, a lady at least rolled down her window to ask if I was ok, before she continued on. No one stopped, to offer to help/check on me.

I've seen a guy pushing his 1970s Harley down the road, and knowing the nearest gas station was 6 miles down the road, I pulled over, loaded his bike into the back of my truck, and drove him to the station. I've come up on a car dead in the middle of the road, at 10 at night, mexican girl and her boyfriend/husband whatever, out of gas. I had just come back from wheeling, and I always used to take 20 gallons of gas extra with me when I did, and hadn't used any of it, so I tossed 5 gallons into their tank, and let them go. The cops who pulled up behind us were shocked that I'd done it...to me, it's just the right thing to do, if you can.

I stop often, but I moved to/live in the MidWest where doors still go unlocked and many vehicles seldom remove the keys from the ignition.

But here's an entertaining story, My biz partner is a genius, Mastermind of extreme calculations computer programmer, but all his understanding is there, vehicles has been a tough road of teaching him what I think of as Common Knowledge and Common Sense. He ran out of fuel on the elevated Xpressway in a Big City, coasts down the off ramp into the burned out section of the hood, starts walking to a gas station. As he walked, the innercity people kept shaking their heads and yelling, U aint from round here Boy! In a short while a Drug Dealer/Pimp in his ghetto Escalade gold plated everything pulls up and suggests he get in the SUV, it aint safe for a white boy in a suit here, LOL. The guy flips out a gargantuan role of 100's and peels one off at the nearest gas station and buys fuel and a gas can and drops him back to his vehicle where it was being hooked to a wrecker and ticketed. Mr Gold plated, was certain he would not have made it back to the car alive. I'm just thankful we get to share a good story, and it goes to show, you never can guess who will dish out random acts of kindness.

SO true, right know i'm the only one in my family that has a full time job. My mom lost her job of 14 years earlier this year. I can't afford to lose my job.

i'll stop most of the time, unless have somewhere to be. most of the time it's not that urgent. i always help elderly people and most people who look like they aren't going to rob me. i had to go check out a gearbox down south of ness city and coming back the tranny locked up in the boom truck. well while i'm waiting on the winch truck to give me a tow i watched 46 vehicles go by and finaly a guy stopped and asked if i needed a ride. i was really surprised that there was only one person who did. when i was still in denver i would see people on the side of the road every day, but in that area very rarely would i stop.

I have been on both sides. Broke down and out of state. And helping people that are broke down. I do my best to help everyone I can. I think alot of us take for granted that we can pull up to the pump and filler up. Just like many other things in life we don't think about and take for granted. No the funny part is I am a big guy 6'6" 330 and covered with tats and when I stop I think I scare the people at first.:scare2: But when they see I actually just want to help they are happy. And now its the time of year to be pulling people out of ditches and useing that tow strap alot more. People try to pay me and I just tell them to pass the favor on. :c:

^^^ last winter i pulled 9 semis off the off ramp and i made 5 bucks! but i saved those drivers a tow bill.