I'M CURIOUS

Recently, I was enjoying my early morning computer time (5:30 AM) when Callie started kicking up sand out side barking her head off.  Callie was enjoying her morning toilet and it was still dark out. She is not the bravest of dogs in the dark.

Knowing it could be anything from a bear to a leaf blowing across the road stirring her up, I went on the porch to stare into the rainy dark to look. At first I saw nothing, then I saw headlights shining in the pasture across the street and noticed the tail lights looking back at me.

I live on a corner with  my side road t-boning a main highway. Someone had evidently missed the stop sign all together and had just driven into a ditch.

First thought was an intoxicated driver. Who else drives into a ditch across a clearly marked road?  Did I run immediately to their aid?  Sad to say, I hesitated a few minutes.

I quickly remembered a time when I first moved here that I came upon such an accident in daylight.  The car was still steaming.  As I ran back to check on the occupants, a rather burly young male driver got out--either injured, stoned or wasted-- and started yelling  and waving his arms angrily at me like it was my fault. Don't know how he figured that for I had come up behind him after the fact.

A bit scared by his anger, I told him I would go call for help which I did.  While I was driving to where there was a cell signal, two emergency vehicles (one police and one ambulance) passed me going towards the accident.

When I found a signal I learned it had all ready been called in.  I don't know the outcome for when I came back that way later that day, the car was gone and so was he. It never made our small newspaper.

Thus, that previous episode tempered my desire to jump into help mode a bit. However,very shortly I noticed what appeared to be a large firefly flitting down the road.  I realized, they had gotten out and were trying to get a signal on their cell phone, thus the bouncing firefly.  That is when I went to their aid.

It was a youngish woman (youngish to me is anyone from 30 to 60) who was quite shaken and needed a phone--we don't have cell service here. She was Ok but really rattled. She was quite sober, on her way to work, and had just somehow missed the stop sign.

She had not only gone in the ditch but had hit a tree which set off the air bag. Her chest was hurting from the impact of the airbag and her vehicle was totaled.  She used my land line to call her Mom who lived about a mile down the road to come get her.

The rest of the day, I watched as car after car stop while some one went into the rain and down the ditch to check on possible occupants. As my street sits on a curve, I was a bit nervous for all the caring folks.

Admittedly  I was a bit surprised in this world where too many people supposedly don't want to get involved--just how many did want to get involved. It was quite a bit heart warming. I will add that 98% of  the Good Samaritans were men. Way to go fellas.

What I am curious about is what would you do if you drove by and saw a car smashed in a ditch in an area with no cell service. Would you shake your head thinking "some drunk" and drive on? Would you drive slowly by looking for someone in the car as several did, possibly phoning for help down the road?   Or would you basically risk your own life, pulling partially off  a busy two lane road and diving into a  water filled ditch to see if you could help?

Just curious.