- John Robarts Speaking for the woman ...which I can do as an older, unhealthy person, who uses a pedal power vehicle in the thermonuclear Florida heat ....and having been bent over or even actually flat on the ground resting from the last exertion... ...and ACTUALLY having EXACTLY this scenario play out THREE TIMES where some potential good Samaritan stopped and asked and then called the wagon ANYWAY even though being TOLD that "I'm just tired. I'll be fine in a while." ...
....I can say with authority that her responce to your actions would be "Fuck You Asshole!"
because , seriously , it gets old. And it's a waste of a couple of thousand of the tax payers dollars and time out of the lives of EVERYONE involved.
If she SAYS she doesn't need help. Then accept it. If she CANNOT communicate, or is CLEARLY disoriented, or on the ground flat and NOT moving, THEN you have a justifiable case to act. "I'm just tired" is NOT cause to have the state stick its nose up your butt. Sometimes I've had to stop for almost half an hour to recover before i can ride on again. I'm getting better at finding spots to stop were i won't be harassed. Though i am SURE that someday someone will actually find me dead on the side of the road it is MY LIFE. NOT YOURS. And even more importantly NOT the STATE'S. Show some respect. It is nobody's choice but her's if she wants help. And having to go through the grinder with the paramedics and police is a more harmful stress than just taking the time to suck some extra wind!
If you REALLY want to interfere, and the person obviously has no WATER, then go to the 7-11 and get a big COLD bottle of water and offer it up. It will do them more good and you can still feel good about yourself for having helped.
( and mismatched shoes is actually a thing now ) - Alan Petrillo She was clearly disoriented, and not thinking clearly.
- Alan Petrillo And you know, John, somehow I knew this would be your comment.
- John Robarts Your description did not indicate she was disoriented. Do you need to modify it?
- John Robarts I intentionally tried to avoid a discussion of the liberal mindset... (oops...)
- John Robarts 1. Able to answer and tell you she was JUST tired.
2. Politely able to say "thank you".
3. Sense enough to move away from the road to prevent further harassment.
4. Able to operate her conveyance while doing so.
Pretty clear that she is "oriented".
But then there is the wearing of a teal colored halter top while simultaneously being an older person. Yep, you got me there. Guess you did the right thing. I apologize for my comments. - John Robarts Exactly. (And I would take you up on that!)
But sometimes I wonder if there is such a thing as a "Baker Act Quota" because some of the first responders get really pushy. Others seem way cool. It all depends who you get. ... - John Robarts There was a court case, New Jersy I think, where a new police hire was turned down because he was too intelligent. So he sued. And lost.
- John Robarts Exactly.
I went over to the 19th St. house to feed Tabbycat and collect some of the food from the freezer over there. Those tasks done I headed back to the 14th Av house to turn some of those frozen food items into dinner.
On my way back, headed south on 19th St. at the corner with Haines Rd. I noticed a woman hunched over a pink bicycle in the corner of the parking lot for the Harris TIPS School. She was obviously in some distress, and looked like she was trying to pass out.
Instead of turning left onto Haines Rd. and heading home I crossed over, pulled into the Harris TIPS School parking lot, and asked her if she was alright, and if she needed help. She said she was “just tired”, refused my help, and thanked me. I wished her good luck and left her there. She was an older woman, late 50’s, early 60’s, in a teal green halter top, ripped up knee length blue jeans, and mismatched shoes. If she isn’t homeless then she certainly looks it.
As I pulled north on 19th St. and into the turn lane toward southeast bound Haines Rd. I faced a choice. I could head home with my frozen food, and try to forget the woman existed, or I could pull straight across onto 46th Av, circle around, and pull into the side parking lot of the closed meat market, and call 911 for her. I thought about it for a few seconds. I pulled straight across onto 46th Av. If my frozen food thawed out I could cook it all tonight. She might be in life threatening distress, considering the heat. A human life is worth more than a bag of frozen food.
I pulled around 46th Av, and went around the block back onto southbound 19th St. into the parking lot of the former George’s Meat Market, where I could watch over her with my car mostly hidden by bushes, and called 911. She had moved next to the school building, and was once again hunched over her bicycle looking like she was either about to pass out, or asleep on her feet, or both.
I described the scene to the operator, got referred to St. Petersburg Police, described the scene again to the police dispatcher, and sat to watch over the woman until emergency services arrived.
A police cruiser arrived first. Dispatch sent a female officer to the scene. The officer must have made the decision that the woman was in more physical distress than I observed, because not more than 3 minutes later an ambulance and paramedic unit arrived.
At that point I left. There was nothing more I could do, and the woman was in professional hands.
I must admit, I will wonder some about her story. Who is she? How did she come to be a woman slightly older than me passing out over a bicycle in the parking lot of the Harris TIPS School? What was wrong? What happened?
One thing I will not have to wonder, though, is what might have happened to her if I had not spent the few minutes it took to call services for her, and watch over her until they arrived.
No comments:
Post a Comment