Saturday, October 13, 2007

WTF Over?

Mamaw came up this morning, brought me food and got me some stuff at Wal Mart (Thanks, Mamaw!)

As we were leaving to go to Wally-world, I noticed that the little old lady that lives across the street from my apartment complex was outside. It's pretty rare to see her outside, she's pretty arthritic and doesn't move well at all, pretty much bent double all the time, but I didn't think much of it, she was going back inside, it looked like. I saw her tug on the door a couple of times, but I figured it was just sticky.

That is, until we got back from Wally World (and I admit, I didn't look for her on the way in,) I dropped my stuff in the apartment, and we went to go get lunch. She was still outside. Still tugging on that door.

The latch on her screen door had fallen, locking her out of her home.

So, I went over and offered assistance, tried the time-tested method of jiggling it *really* fast, but that didn't work. I finally had to pry it open with a butter knife that she'd had laying on her porch for gardening stuff, but we got her inside, and did a temporary fix with some masking tape that Mamaw had in the car. Got lunch, hit Wal Mart again, and went back with a slightly better fix of duct tape.

The WTF portion of this is that that poor lady was locked out of her house for at least forty five minutes. There's fairly constant traffic on my street. How many people drove by and saw her tugging at the door?

She was getting pretty close to hysterical when I walked up. How many people drove past a scared old lady, and just kept on driving? Mamaw thinks she might have seen her outside when she arrived, which was twenty minutes before we left the apartment.

How long would she have had to stand out on her porch? Because no one wanted to take five minutes to help out a sweet old lady?

What the hell is happening to this area?!? It used to be that you could break down, and the first person by would stop and offer help. Now, fifteen or twenty cars might drive right by before anyone stops to even see if everyone is all right.

It disgusts me.

On a better note, the nice lady's dog acts like a freaking psycho whenever someone comes to the door. I had my knee in the door taping the latch, to keep the dog from getting out, and the dog got slobber on my jeans... but never bit me. It also never stopped growling and barking it's head off acting like I was killing something very dear to it.

I told the pup it was a good dog, before I left. I'm glad she's got a deterrent against some of the slimier elements of society. If I hadn't only noticed the slobber on my jeans after I finished with the masking tape, I'd have figured that the dog would bite anyone who was dumb enough to put a finger in the door.

I also didn't make any moves to actually come into the house, which might be an entirely different situation. But I think it's a good thing she's got her protector.

5 comments:

Farm.Dad said...

Good deal hun , just remember we cant control the rest of the world , but you make me and farm mom both proud of you with your " pay it foreward " attitude . If others drive by well they miss a whole part of the world that you have by stopping to help .

Anonymous said...

Some people aren't kind and some people are so involved with their own little section of reality, they wouldn't know they fell into a hole until gravity brought it to their attention. That's why you're special. Where some won't help an elderly woman, or nursemaid a cat, you will and don't think anything of it. The world's a kinder and gentler place because of you. It's a good thing.

Farmmom said...

Hey kiddo I'm proud of you. This is the way I raised you and would expect no less. This is just another example of society's disregard for our elderly population. You on the other hand had a great example of how much those elderly are worth and you appreciate what they can give to us.

Dan O. said...

Good for you!

It's a "Me" society. It's also become a dangerous society. In a case like yours, where it's an elderly person, I wouldn't hesitate to stop and help in any situation.

However, I've become much more cautious and hesitant to stop even along busy highways to check that someone is in need of assistance.

I don't like being like that, being suspicious of a seemingly innocent situation. But, unfortunately it's another downfall of society. Where the lowlifes will use such situations as a setup their prey.

DBA Dude said...

I think that the difference is that your eyes are always wide open, assessing your surroundings (legacy of the flagger job?).

The rest are stuck in their own little worlds.

Well done.