Are your fellow human beings decent?

Had this idea today while i was in blockbusters, a little girl was with her father waitin in the que, while we shuffled up to the till she knocked over several dvds onto the floor, Without thinking about it i said 'oops' and bent down to pick them up with her.

I know its not alot but it got me thinking about how people act these days, I was raised in london and people their generally have a reputation for being rude or stand offish and i never really noticed it untill moving to the south west of england.

People are alot nicer round here, you know polite small town people who will stop to have a chat or smile as they walk past, when i first moved here i was wigged out by it but now i have come to admire that trait in people.

So i ask of ATS members share any stories you have of people stopping to help you out of a jam or a random act of kindness, I remember a thread a while ago about somebody who stopped to help a old lady who had been evicted from her house and brought her to shelter

So here is mine:

When i was a nipper i used to play in the back alley by my nans house, so one day im out there and i come across an old sewing machine(a singer i believe) , You know the old ones on a wooden frame,

so me being a kid decides to start messing with it and before i could even move the thing had fallen and landed on top of me! wooden case an all. at that moment i noticed a man who i hadnt seen walk past me, he immediatly dropped his belongings and ran over and lifted the typewriter off of me

Bearing in mind i was a real runt of the litter type back then! he picked me up and carried me into my nans house i dont remember if he said anything it was a while ago and i was so young but i remember him leaving and carrying on with this daily buissness.

I had a small gash on my head i was abit shaken but i was ok thanks to that complete stranger, but who knows maybe things could have been alot different if he hadnt of been there!

Look forward to you sharing some of your stories

[edit on 8-11-2009 by Reading]

Here's one that happened to me I was driving on the freeway and my car started acting funny so I got out of the freeway and then my car stopped working. I got out and started pushing to somewhere that is not in the middle of the road and then 2-3 people appeared and started helping me push the car. They were all really nice.
There is also this village in Peru called Huancao (I don't know if I spelled that right) it's really clean and the people are also really nice. I got up one morning and saw some people with brooms cleaning up the streets. These were the people who live there not hired by the government they get up every morning to clean up the streets. Huancao is also really pretty with a lot of good food and oddly enough Ronald Reagan mannequins I recommend any ATSers to check the village out if they're in Peru. Also sorry about any grammatical errors or typos grammar and spelling are my kryptonite.

Originally posted by Corneilius
Ronald Reagan mannequins

That is alone a good reason to go visit! i get what your saying though, small town people are alot better mannered i think just check the crime stats for major cities.

That car story is nice on the motorway here i remember being stuck in a traffic jam and some guys car was clearly overheating, you could see people up the road handing him bottles of water from their own car, Bearing in mind it was a hot day (yeah i know in england?)

it dont suprise me to hear your story but now i feel bad because me and the missus drove past some guy broke down just yesterday

There are good and bad everywhere.
Unfortunately, most people act like selfish jerks around where I'm from.
that doesn't mean that there aren't decent people out here though.
I'm nice to a fault, and people often take advantage of that, believing it's my weakness.
Especially at the work place.
Doubly so on the road.

The mentality of people is, "ME! ME! ME! F# YOU!"
Anyone that knows NY and NJ can vouch for that.
It's not paranoia.



By the way, Enjoy a Star* and a Flag~.
Have a wonderful evening.

[edit on 11/8/2009 by reticledc]

Originally posted by reticledc
There are good and bad everywhere.
Unfortunately, most people act like selfish jerks around where I'm from.
that doesn't mean that there aren't decent people out here though.
I'm nice to a fault, and people often take advantage of that, believing it's my weakness.
Especially at the work place.
Doubly so on the road.

The mentality of people is, "ME! ME! ME! F# YOU!"
Anyone that knows NY and NJ can vouch for that.
It's not paranoia.



By the way, Enjoy a Star* and a Flag~.
Have a wonderful evening.

[edit on 11/8/2009 by reticledc]

Hmmm, funny you should say NY and NJ sounds like a common problem in big cities then? maybe life is just to damn stressfull there to think about other people?

And i get what you are saying about kindness mistaken for weakness because i am a former asshat myself and im tying to reform and turn into a nice guy! thanks for the post

What a nice thread for a change !!
Random acts of kindness. !!!
I used to live in London, and when I was about 18 I had played football,
got showered and dressed, got on the bus to go home. When getting my fare ready, I found my wallet missing, but a couple in their 30's paid it for me.
Never forgot that, there are decent people out there.

Originally posted by ukmadmax
What a nice thread for a change !!
Random acts of kindness. !!!
I used to live in London, and when I was about 18 I had played football,
got showered and dressed, got on the bus to go home. When getting my fare ready, I found my wallet missing, but a couple in their 30's paid it for me.
Never forgot that, there are decent people out there.

Makes a change from all the doom gloom and arguments on here eh!

Who was it that said something about random acts of kindness can change the world, Iv heard it many a time but i dont know where its from?

You will find that 95% of people are just scummy wannabees.

I do not bother with them, and i am sure there is plenty here that feel that way too.

You never notice how bad people are in london, until you move away and thats true, i noticed that too. But like others also said, there is bad news everywhere.

I believe the majority of people are decent and will be kind and helpful to their fellow man. I think it goes the opposite when in a car, though, because you are somewhat 'anonymous' and don't actually have to deal directly with the person you slighted. For instance, people have no problem cutting into the front of a line of cars on the road but you would never see someone try to cut in front of a long checkout line at any store. I think that this is part of why there is road rage.

Originally posted by bagari
I believe the majority of people are decent and will be kind and helpful to their fellow man. I think it goes the opposite when in a car, though, because you are somewhat 'anonymous' and don't actually have to deal directly with the person you slighted. For instance, people have no problem cutting into the front of a line of cars on the road but you would never see someone try to cut in front of a long checkout line at any store. I think that this is part of why there is road rage.

I agree with that, it isolates you really much in the way public transport does i suppose