Bud Boy and I did our good deed today!

[Scarecrow1]

Good job Glen and others , Ive done the same and will continue to. There will always be one of our mothers ,fathers, wifes, sons ,or daughters out there in harms way . It's up to us to provide help when theres a need for it, and in doing so we help those we love ..

 

[srodocker]

i tried to unlock my gfs car that she locked this keys in with it running...couldnt get it so called the locksmith

 

[Ferroequinologist]

I don't want to ruin the spirit of this thread, but nowadays you have to be very careful helping people. I've almost been taken to court for 'damage' to a persons vehicle. I pulled an old fella out of a ditch one night, he offered me money too, and I refused. His greedy family must have said something to him (I had told him my name and where I worked) and they tried to take me to court to pay for 'damages' to the old truck when I pulled it out... It was damaged by the ditch, not me.

Anyway, thanks to all who do good deeds. Just be careful out there. It's a shame we have to actually think about such things when we are helping folks out.

 

[moleary]

I did a good deed once (I've only had my HMMWV for a year and in FL there aren't a lot of stuck people) and it didn't turn out so well - but the story is kinda funny...

So about a week after I got my MV I went cruising with my brother and sister in law and their two kids late one afternoon, just before dark. We never hit any major roads, just cruised the neighborhood. Several blocks from my house I came across the unusual sight of a relatively new full size Dodge with it's front right wheel in a ditch and the three other tires essentially off the ground.

There were a couple of people standing around looking at the truck and we pulled over to see how we could help. In our excitement my brother-in-law and I failed to fully take stock of the situation, which comes into play shortly. I whipped out the winch controller and let out the cable, hooking it to the Dodge's hitch. I set the throttle lock a little higher and put on the parking brake (please feel free to tell me all the things I did wrong, seriously) and began winching the truck back out of the ditch and onto 4 wheels.

As the truck settled back onto the road we started looking around and realized that this little incident was not a one-car deal (although no one ever said anything to us as we were helping the guy out of the ditch). The driver had evidently lightly tagged another car before going into the ditch - the damage wasn't visible in the dusk lighting. The driver himself was barefoot and upon closer inspection may have been drinking. About this time he thanks us kindly and hops into his vehicle to "run back to his house up the street and get his license." At this point my brother in law and I are looking at each other and thinking, oh crap...

The poor folks in the other car are looking at this guy with WTF expression and then at us with a sort of lost look. The community officer (we have these police-lite guys in our city) comes up as thing guy is going down the road and we eased on out of there after talking with them for just a few minutes as it was getting sort of late for the kids...

I dropped the family off at the house and went straight back up there to see what else I could do to help make sure that everything was ok and that the people he hit didn't get left out in the cold. I was only gone for a couple of minutes and when I got back everyone had left! I called the police dispatcher and told them what happened and gave them my contact info but never heard anything else!

To this day though I have the distinct impression that I helped a drunk guy get back on the road and avoid a ticket. I hope that isn't what went down, but I'll be sure to fully understand the situation next time!

That said - I'll never stop helping those who need it, as long as it won't put others in danger after I help them!

 

[skark_burmer]

i stopped helping people for the last few years and recently got back into the spirit, but only when they are far from civilization and really screwed or someone i know. I've been burned a few times by people claiming that i damaged their car like the jerk that tossed his S2000 into a ditch and claimed that his front bumper was 100% fine before i pulled him backwards out and it came off as he crested the mound at the edge of the pavement. Nevermind that his windshield was shattered from his airbags going off, radiator exploded and motor oil all over the hillside. CHP showed up and cited me for causing damage to his property because i was not a licensed tow operator. My incurance paid for the damages no matter what common sense argument i tried. the last straw was really dumb, but since then, i just keep driving on by.


It was a dark and stormy night, the kind of night where the cold chills you to the bone and you can feel death creeping up on you when you are not looking...

lol i live in California, who am i kidding?
Actually it was a pretty miserable night and there is a highway that is kind of out away from anything and no cell coverage (280 near page mill for the locals). I was in a really poor mood, i dont remember what happened that day but it was something along the lines of getting dumped by a girlfriend or getting fired or something similar, just feeling defeated and low.
I come around a corner see an old GM X body on the shoulder and the hazard lights are really dim and flashing slowly so i pull over and back up and get out to see if i can help. Its raining like mad and i see the driver get out.
I am confident i can fix pretty much anything that ails him as i have my tools with me and am set up pretty well for a myriad of situations one could encounter. And worse case scenario i'll go home and get my trailer and can at least get him home and off the side of a highway.

the driver gets out and in a mean female voice i hear
"the only reason you pulled over is because i am hot, isnt it"

With that i stopped, turned around, got back in my truck and left.


Funny, after i re-read this it is the exact same reason i quit the search and rescue team. For me the risk is not worth the reward.
You try to help people out and are competent to do so but things might not go as well as planned. At any time you can be sued and loose everything to have worked for and will work for because of some money hungry leech. And if you do get sued, the county you volunteer for will completely disown you because you are not a paid employee of the county so you need to deal with the lawsuit as an individual. After i was lucky enough to have the first lawsuit against me thrown out for being outrageous i decided its just not worth it. The victim claimed that our SAR team was too rough on her and caused her great mental trauma as we jostled her on the way up the cliff to the roadway. Apparently as a 250lb drunk driver that left the roadway and broke both femurs she expected we magically get her up 100' of almost vertical cliff "within 5 minutes and without excessive movement".
Because i was the team lead i got the attention from the lawyer.

Also when i was a trained first responder i could have been sued for NOT helping if i deem the situation is too dangerous or any other reason. Auto accidents, fires, haz-mat or any other possible situation that might arise.
No thanks, i'll pass.

 

[91W350]

Along that line, we were coming back from deer hunting in western Ellsworth County one evening and there was a man about 65ish walking east on Old US 40 toward Salina. We stopped and asked him if he needed help, his story was that his car had broken down and he just needed a ride to Salina. We offer to take him to town and he hops in the back seat of Dad's 4Runner. About two miles later, a trooper stops us and asks if we had picked up a hitch hiker. Dad said we stopped to see if a guy needed assistance and offered him a ride to town.....

About that time the right rear door pops open and another trooper along with a state fish and game guy drags our poor passenger out and says kind of firmly, come with us....

Seems he and a couple of buddies had been poaching deer and he observed the officials from his hillside view and tried to make the great escape on foot. How the trooper knew we had picked him up is still a mystery to me. At least we never got ordered to court! Glen

 

[91W350]

and we may have a new member soon.....

Bud was not along today, I was at work. I was out on patrol and found a really nice looking M-1009 parked on the Pilot Truck Stop or Bosselman's Truck Plaza lot. I snapped a couple of photos, because this one was backwards. It was towing a red Dodge Dakota four door.

The owner came along and we got by the hello I am... he was a retired police officer and now is a Sgt Major about to deploy...

He was on his way from Texas to Nebraska....

We talked about the truck, life and I wished him a safe journey. He had mentioned his truck was not shifting right and seemed down on power. I gave him my telephone number and told him to call if he ran into trouble. We added two quarts to the transmission and hoped that was it.

About an hour later he called, he was 32 miles west and hi M-1009 was weak. Said he could only pull about 15 mph on the hills and wanted to limp back into Salina to find a shop. We agreed that he would call when he got close or when he broke down and I would try to help him.

He called as he was exiting, we pulled over and talked for a little bit. He said he really noticed the power loss after filling up in Oklahoma City and especially about the time he hit the Kansas Turnpike. He described the condition and wanted to know where a good diesel shop was. I told him we had several, but we ought to go buy a fuel filter and try that firt.

I led him down to O'Reilley's and we got a filter, then we went and bought about a third of a gallon of fuel to prime it with. I showed him how to swap it out and how to prime the filter and bleed off the air.

It fired right up and then died, the air bubble caught us. His almost 7 year old group 24 batterie were not up to the task of spinning the engine. I called y son and had him bring over the M-1008. We took a few photo while it charged and the Blazer fired right up.

I followed him out of town far enough to get a phone call.... "Its alive!" I told him to call if he has any trouble going home. I have the next two off and I could come help. I think he is making smoke and smiling.....

I let him pay us a little this time, he gave my son and I each a challenge coin. Pretty cool.... Good luck and Merry Christmas Sgt Major!

 

[doghead]

Some situations seem like they were prewritten. I bet he never thought anyone with knowledge and a cucv, would find him and be able to help him through that situation.

I had to googe "challenge coin" Challenge coin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[91W350]

Not wanting to cause him any grief or embarassment, cannot imagine what would do that, I XXed out his name. He selected a very nice coin, a nice robust 2" coin.


They grew in popularity during Desert Storm and the coin makers business exploded when they found the law enforcement market. I have maybe 50 different ones, a small collection compared to some guys I have met with over a 1000 different coins. Glen

 

[doghead]

I hope you mentioned this site, and that we would be availible to help him wherever he is.

 

[91W350]

I mentioned it and wrote it down on paper for him. I gave him my user name and my address, invited him to come join us. Told him this was the most comprehensive shop manual I had ever seen for military vehicles.