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#31
09-24-2007, 03:51 PM
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Re: What\'s the most heroic thing you\'ve ever done?
Day after Halloween party a few years back:
I drive down from Ventura to meet a few friends at one of these huge corporately run Hollywood Halloween parties I had been hearing about (Somewhere near Highland). There were lots of girls in attractive costumes, but the music was terrible and I waited some 30 minutes in line to get a $12 long island ice tea. I remember why I don't go to these things and head home to get some sleep before an early class the next morning. It was about 1:30am. Somewhere around Calabasas I see a slow but steady stream of smoke coming from off the highway. I decide, "what the hell, I'm going to check this thing out", and pull over. Hidden down a small hill and some trees is a car that has plummeted into one of the larger trees off the side of the freeway. I walk up to the vehicle and sure enough, there is a female passed out with her head on the steering wheel. The car is absolutely wrecked and the smoke seems to be increasing. I lie my hand on the girl's shoulder and say something or other to check for consciousness. Luckily enough, she comes to. I'm unsure if I should keep her still in case she is badly injured or if I should get her out of the smoking vehicle. But she decides to take the matter into her own hands and climbs out of the car, barely managing to stand propped up against my shoulder. I keep telling her to be careful but she rather haphazardly walks up to my car and proceeds to sit in the back seat. She is clearly intoxicated and delirious. I realize for the first time that she has a large amount of blood coming from both ears. She was likely coming from a Halloween party herself, this young, attractive Mexican girl of about 19 or 20 yrs, wearing a Catholic school girl uniform. This combined with the morbid amount of blood makes for quite a surreal scene, even for Halloween. The girl insists that I drive her home and mentions something vaguely sounding like directions. She keeps saying she doesn't want to get in trouble. I tell her something along the lines of "ok, don't worry, everything will be alright" and step out of my car to call 911. Three calls later, the lines were still busy. I had no idea that 911 could be busy. I try to hail down another car for help, but I guess they were all busy or drunk driving. As time is of the essence, I decide to drive her to the hospital. A few miles down the road I realize I don't know where a close hospital is, but I see a police station sign on an offramp and decide that would be an ok place to take her: "They would know what to do" Fastforward: I show up at the police station and as much as I have tried to keep the girl conscious with conversation, she is pretty much passed out. There is one officer present at the front desk and I describe the situation. I tell him the girl is shaking and should be checked on or at least gotten a blanket. He tells me to sit down in one of those cold plastic and metal chairs in the lobby and wait for two other officers to show up. He doesn't move from his spot! I tell him I need to check on her and he doesn't seem bothered one way or the other. Finally, two officers show up. They both escort me inside and begin to interrogate me. Again, neither of them seem concerned about the girl that is possibly dying in my car! They would rather try to implicate me in some terrible act. One of them walks into the back and I hear him say on his radio: "I think we've got a rape and battery here" Right now I'm steaming. I'm sure they can see this. At length (probably 20 minutes after I arrived) a 3rd officer shows up. He has the decency to check on the girl briefly and ensure that an ambulance has been called. At this point he goes into "good cop" mode, sets in motion the verification that there was a wreck found at the spot in question, and says he understands that I did a good deed and didn't deserve to be unduly hassled. He then asks me how much I've had to drink. I say "one long island" which is true. He goes on a long (tryingly friendly) tirade about how one long island is too much for anyone to drive on, even after an hour or two wait, because of the amount of alcohol in the drink. He proceeds to give me a breathalyser and I proceed to blow a .02, far below the .08 legal limit in California. He agrees that I'm am legal to drive, but suggests that I wait it out in the police station for an hour or two "just to be on the safe side". By now, my story has been verified and they have no reason to keep me. I turn down the officer's offer to "wait it out" as I Do have an early morning ahead of me. Before I leave, a helicopter descends to pick up the girl and take her to the hospital (ambulances were all booked up). The next day I get a call from the police department. They tell me they lost the report and need to go over the story again. I'm not sure if they just wanted to make sure my story was consistent or if they really are stupid enough to lose the report (and inform me that they have done so). The conversation seems satisfactory to the officer. My friend tells me the next day that he read in the newspaper of a Mexican girl dying from a car wreck that night. I hope it wasn't the same girl. I still don't know. I should have inquired about the girl's status when I talked to the officer the next day. Heck, if she was alright, maybe I could get a date. Like I said, she was really attractive. But at the very least, I'd like to know that she was ok. Anyway, maybe this isn't exactly heroic. I'd like to think that many would do exactly the same thing in this spot (though they didn't seem to that night). In any event, it's the first thing that came to my mind when considering this question, and it's a damn good summation of police incompetence in Cali. 
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#32
09-24-2007, 03:58 PM
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Re: What\'s the most heroic thing you\'ve ever done?
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] I pulled a u-turn and put on my brights, getting the car to within a couple of yards, grabbed the baseball bat i had in there and got out. [/ QUOTE ] That's pretty bad ass and all, but were you coming from a softball game? Do you play often enough that you keep a bat in your car? Was the bat wood or aluminum? [/ QUOTE ] It was a wood Louisville slugger. I've always found taking a few swings to be a good tension release so I just kept it around. it wasn't a pre-meditated skinhead repellant, if that's what you're asking. Thing is, I was pretty angry/depressed in those days, so the possible ramifications weren't pressing on me. I think that today, faced with the same situation, I'd probably stop the car, call the police and yell at them, but that's about it. one extra detail; this was happening on a major road here in Toronto with a lot of cars passing right by. I thnk my disgust with that may have fueled my stupidity.
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#33
09-24-2007, 04:02 PM
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Re: What\'s the most heroic thing you\'ve ever done?
True story, but first some background...I was hit by a car when I was 10 years old, and as a result, spent over a year on crutches and had three operations to fix my mangled left leg...
Fast forward 9 years later, and I'm a sophomore at Boston University. Me and a few friends were heading out on a Friday night to Bill's Bar, where my "thing" would be to order a pitcher of Bill's Brew and walk around the bar drinking out of the pitcher...got lots of attention from the girls, lol. Anyway, we're leaving Bill's (which is right across the street from Fenway Park) and to get back to our dorm, we have to cross a huge parking lot. As we cross the parking lot, I see what looks like the end of a fight and some of the people getting into a car. Instead of driving away, they turn the car and attempt to hit the people they were fighting with! So now here's me, in my post-Bill's Bar drunkenness, saying to my friends, "This is unjust! I've been hit by a car and it's not a good experience....." I then proceed to run toward the car, which is limited in its speed due to the turning radius of the parking lot...as I approach, I'm waving my hands, telling them to stop and to be safe or someone's going to get hurt. Anyway, the car turns round and then driver GUNS IT straight towards me...I clearly remember my mind frantically ponder two decisions--either get hit by the car, or jump onto the car. I decide to jump onto the hood of the oncoming car, and cling to the area where the hood meets the windshield. Phew! Ok, I think, now they'll stop the car, my friends will catch up, and cooler heads will prevail. Little did I know that the car was in the process of now turning onto Brookline Avenue, and leaving the parking lot. Now I'm drunk, and on the hood of a moving vehicle, in the middle of a pretty busy road. The punks in the car try to speed up and then slow down the car to get me off...I hold on. They run the windshield wipers and spray the washer fluid, but I hold on. And now I'm getting pissed off--so i decide to take hold of one of the windshield wipers, and twist the hell out of it, wrecking it and hopefully causing some degree of hefty repairs. I remember holding up the detached, mangled wiper in the air and saying "HAH!!" as I looked into the windshield at the darkened interior. Next thing I know, the window is being rolled down, and I see a hand extending--something starts to spray...gdamnit-the passenger is macing me and it hit the target. Never been maced before, or since, but now I'm on the hood of a moving car, blind and in intense pain...not a good scene. The car stops and judging by the noise, I can guess which intersection we're at...I roll towards the sidewalk just to get off the car. I'm hoping my friends get there soon, otherwise if the guys get out of the car, I'm defenseless. Lucky for me, light turns green and the car speeds off and my friends catch up with me shortly thereafter--take me to Beth Israel to get cleaned up. Heroic? I think so--my intentions were noble in trying to stop a fight from escalating into someone being hit by a car. And jumping onto the hood of a moving car, and staying on while on a road while maced is not easy...anyway, thought I'd share since this is one of my favorite college stories and don't think I don't realize it could have turned out very badly for me.
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#34
09-24-2007, 04:13 PM
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Re: What\'s the most heroic thing you\'ve ever done?
Late at night in a big parking lot outside of a huge office building there was an older guy getting beaten up and pretty obviously mugged by 3 young males. I was with a friend (he was about 125lbs) and his girlfriend. We rescued the victim.
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#35
09-24-2007, 04:15 PM
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Re: What\'s the most heroic thing you\'ve ever done?
When I lived in Toronto I pulled random guy off random girl as it looked like he was roughing her up at 2:00 a.m. Not exactly heroic but it seemed like something I should do.
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#38
09-24-2007, 04:26 PM
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Re: What\'s the most heroic thing you\'ve ever done?
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] tried to save a friend's life [/ QUOTE ] cliff notes? [/ QUOTE ] without going into details...my friend died instantly (or so the doctors told us later) when his heart stopped (at the age of 20) during an athletic competition...but at the time we didn't know this. so i was the one that reacted and came to the (failed) rescue. as for this: [ QUOTE ] It's not heroism though -- it's just instinct. Most of these stories are just instinct except for the skinheads one. [/ QUOTE ] i 100% disagree. in my situation there were dozens of people who could have reacted and in the end, i would say 2 did anything in a helpful and timely manner. so yes the skinhead thing was extremely heroic but i was amazed at how few people who didnt know what to do just didnt do anything (eventually not everybody can be of use but there is something to be said about just acting rather than thinking...as well as being aware enough to see something-whether it be a baby in danger or a problem about to arise...so anybody that does is showing signs of heroism albeit a result of instinct. but what was interesting for me was the fact that my actions went to waste in a sense. i didn't save a life although i tried but there was little to no satisfaction and a whole lot of sorrow. all i really had to grasp onto was knowing the that when encountered with such a situation, i'd step up to the challenge (which was a question i always asked myself).
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#40
09-24-2007, 04:30 PM
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Re: What\'s the most heroic thing you\'ve ever done?
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] tried to save a friend's life [/ QUOTE ] cliff notes? [/ QUOTE ] without going into details...my friend died instantly (or so the doctors told us later) when his heart stopped (at the age of 20) during an athletic competition...but at the time we didn't know this. so i was the one that reacted and came to the (failed) rescue. as for this: [ QUOTE ] It's not heroism though -- it's just instinct. Most of these stories are just instinct except for the skinheads one. [/ QUOTE ] i 100% disagree. in my situation there were dozens of people who could have reacted and in the end, i would say 2 did anything in a helpful and timely manner. so yes the skinhead thing was extremely heroic but i was amazed at how few people who didnt know what to do just didnt do anything (eventually not everybody can be of use but there is something to be said about just acting rather than thinking...as well as being aware enough to see something-whether it be a baby in danger or a problem about to arise...so anybody that does is showing signs of heroism albeit a result of instinct. but what was interesting for me was the fact that my actions went to waste in a sense. i didn't save a life although i tried but there was little to no satisfaction and a whole lot of sorrow. all i really had to grasp onto was knowing the that when encountered with such a situation, i'd step up to the challenge (which was a question i always asked myself). [/ QUOTE ] I think his point was that it shouldn't be considered "heroic" if nothing is at risk. The guy with the bat could've gotten killed. By trying to help your friend, although admirable, you didn't really risk anything. (Maybe that's not what he was going for, but that's how I interpreted it)
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