Faith in Humanity=Restored (well, a little anyhow)

[crazylegs]

As is per usual I get called to attend an RTC (Road Traffic Collision AKA Car Crash), a report of a car v another car v a lampost.

I get there as quick as I can (2 minute response time, WooHoo!) and expect to see the driver sat on a wall or some such uncomfortable position.

What I actually find is that the owners of the house where the lampost is outside have found a camp chair for the driver, got a blanket for them and a mug of water. All the way through us dealing with the incident the various homeowners were offering us cups of tea, coffee or the use of the facilities.

The concern that was shown by complete strangers to the driver was heartwarming and shows that even though we all deal with some truely awful people there are still some great people out there!

[wagegoth]

When the Cypress Structure collapsed during the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, the locals immediately jumped in to help. The people living in that area are some of the poorest people in the Bay Area. It is one of the worst places to live in Oakland. These people climbed a collapsed structure to help people out of cars, pass them water and food and blankets, and did everything they could to assist. People are always complaining about the crime and welfare queens and racially based things, but, like everywhere else, most of the people who live there are decent people trying to get by.

This is a video of the Cypress Structure before it collapsed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZOsWhrN_S0

This is what it looked like after:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/...ss_LCluff.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cy...structure.jpeg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:02...SCyprusVia.jpg

[Fleur]

not quite as dramatic as your story, but...

today i had a lady buy around ten dollars worth of stuff, but had left her purse in her car. i was on the verge of suspending her order and letting her go out to get her purse when the lady behind her took out a twenty and handed it to me. :] she insisted on paying for a complete stranger and expected no compensation, even though the first lady told her not to worry about it.

i wish there were more people like that.

[persephone]

People, in general, are not bad. People tend to really be good at heart and willing to help. We happen to see and hear about a lot of the bad seeds because that's what we deal with and remember at work and who we hear about on the news. Typically, we don't remember the normal people just going about their business.

I have been in a couple of wrecks in my life, only one of them really bad. I was driving home from Daughter's one year doctor appointment (so she had JUST turned a year old) and someone ran a red light and T-boned us. Luckily, they hit the driver's side, because Daughter was on the passenger side in the back and the other car hit the bar between my driver's door and the passenger door.

I must have been knocked out for a short time because the next thing I remember was someone knocking on my window and asking if I was alright. People who lived on the street had come out of their houses and were trying to help everyone involved. They didn't want to move me because I'd been jostled pretty bad and it felt like something might have been broken (luckily, it was just a couple of ribs, that heals), so one of the ladies got Daughter out of her car set in the back and then sat in the passenger seat and talked to me and kept Daughter calm until the police and ambulance could get there. She called Hubby for me and even went so far as sending someone into her house to get some juice and crackers for Daughter. When the paramedics got there, she called Hubby again, told him they were loading me into the ambulance and to meet us there. She rode in the ambulance with me and Daughter and stayed with us until Hubby could get there.

I don't know her name (she left before Hubby could get it) but I thanked my lucky stars for that lady for months after that. She might not have thought like she was doing much, but having someone talking to me and keeping Daughter calm helped more than she knew.