Done my 'good deed' for 2008....

nicely done

Quite the story Jafo.  Thanks for sharing.

At least you were in the right place at the right time... and did the right thing when confronted with it.  Sadly, in this day and age, many do not and turn the other way/keep walking by.

My 75 y/o mother (recently returned from a trip to England, but that's another story) was on a crowded Brisbane train and had to stand because the schhol kids and other able bodied persons (young men in business suits) refused to give up their seats... to someone who had obvious difficulties standing...  mum could use another hip replacement and the train sometimes jerked/moved erratically, possibly due to an apprentice driver under instruction.

Anyhow, to cut a long story short, the train came to a jerky/jolting stop at one station and mum took a rather heavy fall, injuring her wrist and bad hip, thus making it more difficult to regain her feet.  NOT ONE person got up to render her assistance, despite her obvious distress... and when she finally managed to struggle back to her feet, still nobody offered her a seat.

I was once waiting for a train when a guy at the other end of the platform collapsed and appeared to be in some difficulty, and though there were several people around him who could have rendered him assistance, noone did and I had to walk 45 - 50 metres to see if he was OK.  He wasn't in such good shape (possible stroke/heart attack) so I went to the station office to get staff to call an ambulance... which was done, but the young bloke I spoke to in the office did nothing further to help so it was down to me to remain with the guy until the ambulance arrived... by that time the train had come and gone and the bloke was left alone on the platform, meaning that everyone boarded it without batting an eye.  I missed the next 2 trains and my appointment to remain and offer assistance, but appontments can be rescheduled and the bloke is alive today.

What a sad indictment that is one modern society, that only one out of 80 - 90 people stopped to care... that if I hadn't been going to keep and appointment, the man surely would have died alone on a suburban train station.... that an old lady traveling alone can fall heavily on a crowded train and everyoned turned the other way.

So yeah Jafo, more power to you for being the good Samaritan.

You shouldn't be lifting heavy old ladies at your age!! You'll do yourself a mischief.....

She ain't heavy....she's someone's mother.....;p

Well done Paul!

. . .hmmm..with that much negative conditioning, I too would wonder what fresh hell awaits the next time I went for a ride...conversely, like Starks points out, thankfully you were there for those people;those episodes speak volumes about you as a person Paul...man, you SHOULD sleep well at night

...OMG! that is apathy & indifference beyond the pale! and yet, from what I see over here on this side of the pond, socially, yup, not a surprise...what happened to people ?....are they that far gone with self absorbtion & malignant narcissism they would let an older person suffer like that...your Mother's episode makes my blood boil Starks...a sad commentary on the human condition

Yeah, it is a sad commentary alright.  I have problems with standing for long periods due to arthritis and spinal issues, so I like to be seated when traveling on trains, but I have gotten up and offerred my seat to the edlerly and/or infirm, people worse off than myself.  There were always more able bodied people who could have done so, but rarely do they ever offer their seats to others who need it more. School kids are the worst, being they travel for free and are not supposed (under the terms of their rail pass) to occupy seats while adults are standing... yet they still do because rail authorities never enforce it.  One such employee said what "do you want me to do about it" when I approached him to get a couple of kids to give up seats they should not have been occupying so that my wife and I could sit down after a long day out, and the kids (a whole bunch of them) told us to eff off.

It's a sad world we live in when courtesy, respect and manners are fast becoming a thing of the past... and there seems very little we can do about it, with the law going soft and not responding appropriately when required, particularly with modern day kids who think 'everything' is their right, while parents have effectively been stripped of parental controls, punshiments and disciplines by politicians, bureaucrats and do-gooders.

That, however, is a whole different story.. the wife and I were put through hell by these very same people when they refused us help with our out of control 15 y/o daughter, and 3 years later we are still suffering the consequences of their inaction, so we have no faith in government and very little left in human nature, given how the much of the human race is going/heading.

Good on yeh Paul...I can attest to the difficulty of lifting a 'little ole lady'...I dont know what they are stuffed with but my guess is bricks.

Good for you Paul.  It really bothers me when folks don't help people in distress/trouble.  Humans can be so self absorbed sometimes.  Shame really.

Way to go Jafo!  We need more like you. I was at a $1.00 theater in Houston, Tx. once in the '80's and was in a line to get in to see E.T. and someone had passed out from the heat. You know that quite a few people just stepped over him and went on, as not to lose place in the line!!!  I had a cup of ice, and myself and another guy near the incident helped cool him off and rouse him back to conciousness. Hard telling how many more would have just stepped over him and let him lie there.  I like to think that people are generally good, but there are some who just don't care about anyone but self.   Good job on the help!  Thanx!   

So you drop a nut picking up an old lady....at your age, you don't need them anyway....

Snakes and old ladies aside, you want to fix that before it drives us both crazy....?????

Well done jafo! It's good to hear that some people still have compassion/and empathy towards others.

There are not enough good people in the world like you Jafo.

Paul...You're my hero. I bow down in your presence!

    to Jafo and Starkers im glad you both stayed to help renews my faith that there are still some good caring people in this world

bravo Bro

That and leaving the State... we were in Tasmania and now live quite happily in Queensland close to my family, leaving the whole sorry mess behind us.  We get the occasional phone call from her telling us nothing has changed for the better... and we also got a couple from the very same authorities who had the power to help but wouldn't, saying they were not happy with the current situation and asked if we would help.  They got the same response as they always gave us: "What do you want us to do about it?", and we prompty hung up.  Can't help those who won't listen/help themselves so, until that changes and our pleas stop falling on deaf ears, we're getting on with our own lives as best we can, because there's not a lot else we can do in the meantime.  There will come a day when we're again allowed to help, and when that day comes, we'll let bygones be bygones, forget those not so good times and do what we can to support her.

Thanks to you, storm347.   I do what I can when I can because we become something less and lose a part of ourselves when we don't care enough to help our fellow man... meaning woman as well. It costs nothing to be polite and courteous, and it costs nothing to care... my stopping to assist the bloke at the station took a little of my time, so what, the positive result was more than worth it.

Well.... 2 weeks later....on me bike once more....another 40k.... another 'good deed'.

Damn...I'm right now til the next decade....;)

On the Maribyrnong river trail....that bit where I tend to come across the odd snake or three...

I was 'motoring' along....passed two others going the same way...it was around middday...and about 30c [middle of spring] and just as I passed an Asian woman walking with a little girl about 8 or so...there was me old mate [or one just like him] ...a 5 foot [or so] brownie heading back from his morning trip to the water.

I pulled up a metre or two away, and gestured to the woman to stop...and wait a while til the snake had made up its mind where it was off to.  She looked totally oblivious to the potential threat posed...and I got the other two riders to stop as well...by which time the snake was trying to get up a 45 degree embankment.

Their comment was 'oh wow...there it is, too' [sounded like they'd never seen one before]...to which I replied 'this part isn't even nick-named 'snake-alley'....that's the bit about 2k further on'...;)

http://snake.fol.nl/Page2.html 

Little bugger comes in at No 10 .....;)

It's great to hear that there are still some folks that are unable to prevent themselves from  doing good deeds for others.I tip my pointy hat to you.

One of the  hardest things in life is to do someone a good deed...but don't get caught.