How can the same stuff happen to the same person time and time and time again?

[Beowulf]

Not that I'm complaining mind you.. nice to be in the right place at the right time.

Was at a couple of job agency interviews today. The last one was annoying me as they were running about 45 mins late.

Anyway I waited , saw the guy I needed to, had a productive chat, and left the office .. and literally took 2 steps and caught an elderly lady who passed out in front of me.

At first i thought she'd tripped but she wasn't 100% "with me" when i was speaking to her.. her eyes weren't focussing anywhere in particular. I whipped out my mobile and phoned for an ambulance (They must have my number on speed dial these days.. this happens way too often for my liking )

a couple of other passers by stopped to help, a gent purloined a chair from a nearby building society and I took off my thick winter jacket and wrapped it around the lady (Who turned out to be 86 years old and called Gladys BTW.. Not that it matters, but adds a little detail to my tale )

By this time her Husband (I assume?) came out of the shop he was in and rushed over and was giving me details of her age , name and health which I passed on to the ambulance service.

What was really "funny" a passing fire engine stopped .. I panicked a bit .. "I'm sure I asked for an Ambulance" but they were coming back from another call , saw the crowd and the sitting on the chair (I would have preferred to have sat her down INSIDE but she couldn't walk so was best to keep her as warm as we could where she was) They had blankets which they put over her (I still hadn't got my jacket back at this point.. I was beginning to feel a little chilly myself )

I had been taking her pulse (like the good little first aider I am) and she was VERY cold, just as the paramedic and ambulance arrived she'd started to come round a bit and I'd asked her if she'd eaten anything today.. she said she hadn't

Anyway , the paramedic looker her over took her and her husband into the Ambulance (passed me back my coat) and set off.

Now anyone would have done the same, 1st aider or not. But the number of pats on the back I got from passing pedestrians and the firemen made me feel very bashful and a little embarrassed.

This keeps happening to me. When I first got my 1st aid certificate I left the training place to see a lady trip over the kerb and smack her head off a wall.

If someone in the street is going to take ill.. it seems that they tend to wait until I'm passing before they keel over. Only recently I was leaving a Beach ballroom event .. just to see a drunk chap take a head first into the pavement with his diminutive girlfriend trying to hold him up ( I never did get my scarf back that time)

Once is nothing, twice is co-incidence, thrice is odd.. but this is about the sixth or seventh time this has happened since I got my 1st aid.

Still as I said, I'm not complaining.. nice to know I was in the right place at the right time.. ... ... AGAIN !

[stewart38]

This keeps happening to me. When I first got my 1st aid certificate I left the training place to see a lady trip over the kerb and smack her head off a wall.

If someone in the street is going to take ill.. it seems that they tend to wait until I'm passing before they keel over. Only recently I was leaving a Beach ballroom event .. just to see a drunk chap take a head first into the pavement with his diminutive girlfriend trying to hold him up ( I never did get my scarf back that time)

Once is nothing, twice is co-incidence, thrice is odd.. but this is about the sixth or seventh time this has happened since I got my 1st aid.

Still as I said, I'm not complaining.. nice to know I was in the right place at the right time.. ... ... AGAIN !

Now if you were causing this you might not be aware ?

Ill give you a wide berth

Sweet story

[straycat]

This could possibly sound quite strange, especially as I'm being serious - but are you certain you're in the right profession?

Because it sounds like you have a gift for this...

[Beowulf]

Now if you were causing this you might not be aware ?

Ill give you a wide berth

Sweet story

This could possibly sound quite strange, especially as I'm being serious - but are you certain you're in the right profession?

Because it sounds like you have a gift for this...

Hmm.. perhaps I'm like Rob McKenna from "So long and Thanks for all the fish".. he was an unwilling Rain God.. the clouds loved to water him and love him..

Perhaps I'm an unwitting PAIN-god People just can help falling down/falling ill near me

Or perhaps when I found that old wishing stone I should have worded my wish a bit more carefully. I said I wanted a guardian angel .. not to BE a guardian angel

could be worse.. I've seen "dead like me".. I could be a reaper instead

EDIT

continuing the Hitchhikers Guide to the galaxy theme.. perhaps I'm more like the bowl of petunias ... "Oh no.. not again !"

[straycat]

Perhaps I'm an unwitting PAIN-god People just can help falling down/falling ill near me

Or perhaps when I found that old wishing stone I should have worded my wish a bit more carefully. I said I wanted a guardian angel .. not to BE a guardian angel

I loved the Rain God idea...

It's said by quite a few wise folks that if the same thing keeps happening to you again and again, the world is trying to send you a message. Often it's pretty direct, like your back constantly going out... the message possibly being that you should sort your posture out, or take up Pilates, or something. The theory is that you'll keep getting hit by the same thing until you finally get the message, and act on it.

So if, as it sounds, you have a knack for first aid... you could be getting a pretty strong message here...

Just a thought

[Double Trouble]

(I still hadn't got my jacket back at this point.. I was beginning to feel a little chilly myself )

I'm sorry, but I just have a mental image of you grabbing your coat back when the blankets arrived and walking off.

Once is nothing, twice is co-incidence, thrice is odd.. but this is about the sixth or seventh time this has happened since I got my 1st aid.

Maybe Beo, you are just more observant than the rest of us. I've seen lots of similar incidents but only after someone has got to the person requiring help first, otherwise I probably would have tripped over them. I'd never get involved in drunken men needing assistance, even if they had fallen over and cracked their head open.

Still as I said, I'm not complaining.. nice to know I was in the right place at the right time.. ... ... AGAIN !

I can see your halo gleaming from here.

[Dreadful Scathe]

Perhaps I'm an unwitting PAIN-god People just can help falling down/falling ill near me

can i ask you , please, to never take any undertaker exams

[Caro]

Once is nothing, twice is co-incidence, thrice is odd.. but this is about the sixth or seventh time this has happened since I got my 1st aid.

Still as I said, I'm not complaining.. nice to know I was in the right place at the right time.. ... ... AGAIN !

happens to me too Beo, 3 times so far but I'm much younger than you

I just think some people are more likely to notice and stop than others

I'd never get involved in drunken men needing assistance, even if they had fallen over and cracked their head open.

So let's imagine you walk in the streets, may be late at night, a man falls and crack his head open on the opposite pavement... how on earth would you know they're drunk ?

I would have to stop, it would cost me not to, even if I suspected that's the case indeed... and god knows I can't stand drunk people.

[Double Trouble]

I would have to stop, it would cost me not to, even if I suspected that's the case indeed... and god knows I can't stand drunk people.

Well that's a risk you are willing to take. My attitude is that I would be putting myself in danger, I would worry for my own safety first before helping a drunk man. As for knowing whether he was drunk or not, I suspect it would be fairly obvious, but even if it wasn't I wouldn't take the risk.

Lets say Caro, that you did help a drunk man in need and he turned a knife on you and raped you.. or worse. Would you be so keen to help again if a similar situation arose?

Nothing like that has ever happened to me, but I wouldn't risk finding out. Better one dead drunk that three kids with no mum, IMO.

[Paul F]

happens to me too Beo, 3 times so far but I'm much younger than you

I just think some people are more likely to notice and stop than others

Dont worry Caro. Moving to London will drain all of that needless public spirit out of you

[Caro]

Well that's a risk you are willing to take. My attitude is that I would be putting myself in danger, I would worry for my own safety first before helping a drunk man. As for knowing whether he was drunk or not, I suspect it would be fairly obvious, but even if it wasn't I wouldn't take the risk.

Lets say Caro, that you did help a drunk man in need and he turned a knife on you and raped you.. or worse. Would you be so keen to help again if a similar situation arose?

Nothing like that has ever happened to me, but I wouldn't risk finding out. Better one dead drunk that three kids with no mum, IMO.

of course I think about my own safety first, and because of that I have a 'definition' of your 'in need' above, i.e. : the person is at iminent risk of serious injury and is not able to respond to it. (note that if serious injury involved other people beating him up, I'm not going to interfere with that - I'll just call the police).

ok in those 3 instances, 2 probably involved drunk guys:
case 1: guy lying on the pavement, head on the road (cars passing close), clearly unable to move.
case 2: guy siting against the wheel of a car, car about to drive forward (some people I tell you), clearly unable to realise that he will fall on his head when the car leaves.

I think it's quite safe to say that those guys were probably drunk and not quite in a state to harm a perfectly sober me.
If I hadn't intervened 1. would probably have been hit on the head by a car, 2. fallen and cracked his head open on the pavement.

I only removed the person from their immediate position of danger, checked they were breathing and called an ambulance.

Nothing like that has ever happened to me, but I wouldn't risk finding out. Better one dead drunk that three kids with no mum, IMO.

Say it happened (guy cracking head open, blood everywhere), you looked at it, and ran away. Isn't there a law in this country that would make you liable of 'non-assistance to person in danger' (translated from french, don't know how you would call it) ?

[Double Trouble]

Say it happened (guy cracking head open, blood everywhere), you looked at it, and ran away. Isn't there a law in this country that would make you liable of 'non-assistance to person in danger' (translated from french, don't know how you would call it) ?

I dunno. Barry's your man to answer that.

Baring in mind you can be prosecuted in this country if a burglar breaks his neck while robbing your house, because I didn't leave the house adequately safe for him to rob me, I wouldn't be surprised if I could go to prison for not helping a drank idiot who is lying on the pavement with a cracked head, which is his own fault.

The law in this country is a pile of pants. I'd do what I felt was best, regardless of the law.

[Beowulf]

I understand where DT is coming from.. but I myself cannot walk past someone who may be in need of assistance.

A while back there was a man lying in the street in Aberdeen (outside the Soul Bar) now he's a well known Drunk.. seen sitting on the nearby church steps with his tin of Special Brew. When I saw him it was freezing cold and he was lying on the ground in a puddle. Now I don't smell I liked to assume it was a puddle of his spilt drink.. but it may have been .. ahem.. "bodily fluids"

Now people were actually STEPPING OVER HIM, they would suddenly become very interested in their mobile phone.. or the shop across the street and as I said, I actually saw people stepping gingerly over him.

Sure he was probably drunk.. but he may have fallen and injuired himself.. he may have had a number of injuries caused by.. or not caused by ... the alcohol he had been drinking.

I knelt down near to him (Keeping out of the puddle ) and asked him if he was ok. He looked at me with bleary eyes and stated "S'ok mate.. just a bit p*ssed and need to sleep it off" so I kindly told him that lying where he was was probably not the best place to be and did he not have somewhere else to go.. He then got up and staggered off to whatever place he calls home.

Now he was fine.. but he may not have been. he MAY have needed medical assistance. He may have got violent , he MAY have attacked me. An awful lot of May's in that statement. I don't like mays.. I like to know I've done something worth while.. or at least attempted to.

if I see someone in need.. there is no way I can walk by. This may be the cause of my eventual downfall.. especially as Gav said to Caro.. when I move to London.

Twirly has warned me not to get involved with problems in London. Fights etc I'll steer clear of .. but if I see some one looking in need of medical assistance then I'm afraid I'll probably still jump in..

I'd do what I felt was best, regardless of the law.

Me too.. I don't do it because the law makes me to.. I do it because I feel its best.

[Twirly]

I
Twirly has warned me not to get involved with problems in London. Fights etc I'll steer clear of .. but if I see some one looking in need of medical assistance then I'm afraid I'll probably still jump in..

Me too.. I don't do it because the law makes me to.. I do it because I feel its best.

I'm educating him! And although I'm reasonably streetwise (I think), it's harder for a bloke - they are actually more likely to be attacked, which is what I worry about for Beo. He goes to assist someone who appears to be in need, but it's actually a decoy and he gets jumped by several other blokes. (there isn't a "smilie" available for how that thought makes me feel).

And yet, I'd also get involved to some degree - even if it's just checking from a safe distance that the person is OK by calling out to them. I once helped a woman who was trying to get out of a car at traffic lights but who was being held onto and screamed at by the guy in the car. She got out but was absolutely terrified - he drove round and came back to shout more abuse at her and yank at her (she was cowering on the ground). Fortunately two other people also stopped to help, so I didn't feel too endangered, and they called the police. Had those people not been there, I'd already got a plan to get her to a place of safety (the sports centre, 200 yds away) and get the police from there. I couldn't have walked away with a clear conscience.

Basically, I do take my own safety into consideration - it's paramount. However, I hope that other people would stop and help me if I was in trouble (which they did, last April when I got knocked over) and I therefore feel it's my duty to stop and help others in need. Call it karma if you like.

[Caro]

Dont worry Caro. Moving to London will drain all of that needless public spirit out of you

don't get me wrong - I'm not some kind of good samaritan who checks on people who seem to have a problem. I'd only get involved if I believe someone is at iminent risk of serious injuy / death and they are not able to deal with it.
To me not doing so in some circumstances is just criminal. Hence the reference to the law. At the end of the day that law is there to tell people there is a boundary to what is acceptable (genuine concern for your own safety) and what is not. For example if you see a car crash right in front of you (that doesn't impact you) and seem to be the only person around, it's criminal not to call emergency services.

[Astro]

This could possibly sound quite strange, especially as I'm being serious - but are you certain you're in the right profession?

Because it sounds like you have a gift for this...

I loved the Rain God idea...

It's said by quite a few wise folks that if the same thing keeps happening to you again and again, the world is trying to send you a message. Often it's pretty direct, like your back constantly going out... the message possibly being that you should sort your posture out, or take up Pilates, or something. The theory is that you'll keep getting hit by the same thing until you finally get the message, and act on it.

So if, as it sounds, you have a knack for first aid... you could be getting a pretty strong message here...

Just a thought

Plus he was at a job interview.

Perhaps the Gods are telling him to apply to medical college and not go to job interviews.

Twirly would make a good doctors wife.

[Beowulf]

Perhaps the Gods are telling him to apply to medical college and not go to job interviews.

I can't be a Doctor.. Not with my surname..

I know what my nickname would be before I start.. "Doo"

Hmm Dr P.Little.. PeeLittle? That's worse than Doolittle !!!

Besides.. I'd have to become a junior doctor at some point.. (a) I'm too old to be a junior anything and (b) I like sleeping at least 6 hours a night.. not per week !

[Astro]

I can't be a Doctor.. Not with my surname..

Hmm Dr P.Little.. PeeLittle?

An ice breaker though. And you do have a sense of humour.

Besides.. I'd have to become a junior doctor at some point.. (a) I'm too old to be a junior anything and (b) I like sleeping at least 6 hours a night.. not per week !

You are not old. Good heavens!

It's all changing now.

We have to follow EEC guidelines for junior doctors hours.

I think they have been cut back dramatically.

Batnurse will know more.

How about being a nurse?

[Gadget]

He's too good at what he does and it pays a lot more than the medical path.

He is also the world's most unlucky and lucky person at the same time: if he was going to get jumped and stabbed they would rush him to hospital, find something nasty in it's early stages, whip it out, sew him up and he would live on for another hundred years. {It's those arround him I get concerned for - a meteor strike may blow him up with everyone else, but he is the only one who would impact in the back of an open matress delivery truck .}

[Twirly]

He's too good at what he does and it pays a lot more than the medical path.

Particularly in London! Besides which, he's far too scatty, and is always misnaming things... if he had to perform an appendectomy, god knows what would get removed by mistake

He is also the world's most unlucky and lucky person at the same time: if he was going to get jumped and stabbed they would rush him to hospital, find something nasty in it's early stages, whip it out, sew him up and he would live on for another hundred years. {It's those arround him I get concerned for - a meteor strike may blow him up with everyone else, but he is the only one who would impact in the back of an open matress delivery truck

You're probably right... I'd better invest in a tin helmet!

(Actually the above did sort of happen to a friend's daughter, she had a riding accident, had to go to hospital to have her neck checked, and they found a brain tumour... she's doing fine now though )