A tale of group stupidity

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Harbin, May 22, 2012.


  1. Harbin

    Harbin Monkey+

    Reading another post by Alpha a little bit ago prompted me to post this one. I gotta say, this actually caused me to lose some sleep and may turn in to a bit of a rant, for that I apologize ahead of time. There will be a survival related moral/point at the end- I promise.

    While driving home from work last week on a rural road I come around the corner and see traffic stopping very quickly, so I pulled onto the gravel shoulder to see what's going on. About 4 cars up there is a sedan w/ some smoke coming out of the hood and a large delivery truck in front of it with 5 or 6 people running around it yanking on the door handles banging on the windows with their hands. I keep a 15 lb fire extinguisher in the work truck, so I grab it from behind my seat and ran up to the car. I empty it under the hood just in case, and look up to see everyone frozen staring at me. I get around to the driver and look in, the lady looks so panicked I think she is gonna faint. She is feverishly yanking at the door handle, so I yell to unlock the door. She is screaming it won't unlock, while pressing the power locks button. I point to the little knob on top of the door near the window and motion to pull it up. She looks at me with a bewildered look and pulls it up. I grab the handle to open it, then she freaks out because she is stuck. I leaned over her and pushed the seat belt button and she launches up pushing me out of the way screaming about the car exploding and to get away. I reached to the back door and unlock it, open the rear door, and remove the car seat holding her 1 yr old. Everyone else is either still standing there staring at me or has followed her away from the car. All the while, my ear piece was in with the police on the phone explaining to them what was happening (company policy, use the ear piece or your fired so it's always in if I'm driving for work). Police, fire truck, and ambulance showed up as I was carrying the baby toward the group of idiots. I explained everything to the 2 officers to the response of shaking heads, fire department even offered to get the extinguisher refilled.

    I have to admit, the drive home was silent and after telling the story to my wife I went on probably a 20 minute rant about how disgusted I am with people in general. From the group stupidity to the mother that would forget to grab the baby and put herself first, it was a pretty hard to accept that this is what so many people in our society have come to. I am quick to jump on entitlement programs making people lazy, but I never thought of just how far reaching the nanny state we live in has gone. She replied with a hug and asked if I wanted a beer (she's a keeper!).

    Moral of the story- keep it simple, and don't panic.
     
    jim2, Dogfood, tulianr and 5 others like this.
  2. larryinalabama

    larryinalabama Monkey++

    On a nonlife threating joke,, newer cars have the ability to sense tire preshure.
    So friends often call me and say my "LOWTIRE" light stays on "WHATS WRONG?"
     
  3. Cephus

    Cephus Monkey+++ Founding Member

    People have not had to take care of themselves in so long now they have no idea how. They panic because that is what they have been taught how to react to a bad situation .
    I fear it's to late to change that !!!!!!!
     
    jim2, Dogfood, jungatheart and 2 others like this.
  4. becky3086

    becky3086 Monkey

    I can't believe she didn't think to pull the lock up on the door but then maybe she wasn't from that generation...still...and I certainly never would have forgotten the baby. It really is a shame.
     
  5. Harbin

    Harbin Monkey+

    Exactly. I have friends that are more than capable of changing a tire in less time- yet they would rather wait for AAA to come do it for them "because they are paying for the service". It's pathetic.

    The stories that do offer a glimmer of hope are like that woman a couple months ago that lost her legs saving her children from that tornado. I probably got some of the details wrong (can't remember exactly), but that's what we are short supply of.
     
  6. Gator 45/70

    Gator 45/70 Monkey+++

    No man,True moral of this story is that there is a special place reserved in Heaven for you for saving the woman and the baby that day...
    Nothing will change my mind...
     
  7. RightHand

    RightHand Been There, Done That RIP 4/15/21 Moderator Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    I think the greatest survival skill is the ability to overcome panic, quickly assess a situation and act deliberately.
     
    Pax Mentis, Sapper John, jim2 and 4 others like this.
  8. Gator 45/70

    Gator 45/70 Monkey+++

    So very True !!!

    I have seen grown men get bugeyed and all twitchy right before we were rolled underwater in a helicopter simulator...

    Being the gentleman that i am...I tell them right before we are rolled. If you kick me in the face i will drown you..I'm still here..lol


     
    Cephus, Alpha Dog and RightHand like this.
  9. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    H, unless that was an older car, there is something wrong with the story. Newer cars don't expose enough lock knob to grab, and front doors will (and did) unlock and open with the inside door handle. (But that fire extinguisher would surely take out a window.)
     
  10. Alpha Dog

    Alpha Dog survival of the breed

    I agree with Gator and want to tell you that even when everything went to He!! in a hand basket. You had enough oomfff to save the lady and the baby that it's own mother forgot. When a man acts as you did with out regard to yourself to save another, a stranger It makes me see there is still a little hope in this world for mankind.

    Ill never forgett I was a boot hadn't been on the street a year and got a call of a single car crash on a local highway. Upon my arrival I seen probally 20 people standing back watching this vehicle blaze. Most of the 20 were men I could here a lady screaming and I ran over to find a lady on the ground screaming my mom is in the vehicle. I ended up with burns on my hands and face it was to hot to get the car open and I could see the lady had burned bad and was already dead. When I interviewed the witnesses they all stated the vehicle struck the bank and after about 10 min the vehicle caught fire. The lady's daughter stated she pulled in as the fire started and everyone was just watching her mom burn. The daughter had burns on her arms hands and face several fingers had to be removed and no one would help her try to save her mom. I ask each witness why didn't you try to help the girl get her mom and the answers was I didn't know them people, I was scared, I didn't know what to do. One of the guys worked for a construction company truck full of tools that could have busted the window. I belive to this day that the lady should have lived if only some had stepped up.
     
  11. Harbin

    Harbin Monkey+

    The car was a early 2000s Honda, had grey plastic door lock knobs. My wifes 2010 Buick enclave does it too and I hate it where you grab the door handle and it doesn't unlock. Have to hit the button unless you put it in park. My f150 unlocks automatically, hers makes me crazy. None of the electrical worked and the cops had a heck of a time getting in to neutral to push it off the road so traffic could move through.

    The kicker is that all these people freaked out for a little smoke from under a hood. scares me to think about how they would respond to a disaster. Definitely no one I would want for a neighbor.

    ETA: I had to move the Enclave this morning to get my truck out of the drive and made sure to pay attention. It's not just putting it in park that unlocks the doors, they unlock when you turn it off. I moved it over but left it running so I could pull out and move her car back, when I went to open the door it wouldn't- had to hit the button. Turned it off and they ALL unlocked. Fantastic safety features...


    Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
     
    ghrit likes this.
  12. Seawolf1090

    Seawolf1090 Retired Curmudgeonly IT Monkey Founding Member

    Too many people become simply 'spectators' during an emergency - it's like their minds tell them it's only a 'TV show', and they want to watch but not participate. It's why we see stories of people walking by a person hit by a car, or mugged and beaten - they don't want to 'get involved' and troubled.

    Too many watchers, too few doers.
     
  13. fedorthedog

    fedorthedog Monkey+++

    We train people to watch. If you dont think so look at the California Safeway assault where the clerk interfered, stopped a pregnant gal from being assaulted by her husband, and got fired.

    PS I sent Safeway a note telling them to get off the dime and encourage their employees to take action.
     
    BTPost and Seawolf1090 like this.
  14. NotSoSneaky

    NotSoSneaky former supporter

    Quoted for truth.

    Society is breeding a generation of helpless morons.
     
    Seawolf1090 likes this.
  15. craneje

    craneje Monkey+

    When the Schummer hits the fan, people are either going to learn very, very quickly, or there will be a great "weeding" out! I expect there will be a lot of weeds!
     
  16. TXKajun

    TXKajun Monkey+++

    Too much tv time for most folks, IMHO. We've now got a population of spectators instead of a population of folks who actually DO stuff.

    Kajun
     
  17. Bluenote

    Bluenote Monkey



    Several others and I sent a group letter to Safeway , they no longer get our dime until they change said egregious policy.
     
  18. jim2

    jim2 Monkey+++

    Harbin

    I'd bet money she is a Democrat. The whole situation is totally disgusting.
    jim
     
  19. Clyde

    Clyde Jet Set Tourer Administrator Founding Member

    Great story. I thought it was going to begin with, "Wow, aren't there a whole lot of dumb people who bought Facebook?"
     
  20. jollyrodger13

    jollyrodger13 ready for action

    car fire

    Some years ago I worked at a Texaco station and a woman came in off the highway (also going the wrong way) and crashed the pump island setting the 3 pumps/etc. and her car on fire, while fighting the fire I had to pull the woman out of the car and carry her into the office. I have to tell you there were some really hairy moments!! A big TWO THUMBS UP to Harbin for what he did! Thank god there are still some decent people around, not everyone has turned into a SHEEPLE! Also I'm sorry to here Alpha Dog's tale, I for one CAN NOT just stand by and WATCH! I'm not a LEO or fireman, just an average joe, but I think the world would be a far better place if more people took action instead of bystanding or rubbernecking!![wannamesswitme][clp] PS. the police said the woman had suffered some kind of stroke.
     
    chelloveck likes this.
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