Kung Fu Heroes

[red5angel]

Who here believes they could get down to it when push came to shove? honestly, who really thinks that they could face a danger that isnt directly involving them?
I was on the bus the other day, and as it began to fill up. Without really thinking about it, I relinquished my seat for a women in front of me and stood the rest of the 30 minute trip. I was raised in the south to be polite and thoughtful.
It got me thinking though, would I step in if someone were in trouble? and needed it? I have before, I pulled a buddy out of the line of fire, I stopped a guy from getting mugged, and I walked a women through a park that often has some shady characters, and did at that moment.
Could I do it again? any of it? I think so, how about you? Really?

[apoweyn]

i was in downtown annapolis once. saw a bunch of frat guys start sh*t with a lone skateboarder. the skateboarder starting mouthing off in response. not smart, but understandable. next thing i knew, one of the frat guys slammed the kid face first onto the hood of a car, then turned him onto his back and grabbed him by the throat. i intervened. someone else pushed me. i have to admit that i was stunned momentarily. then a third frat guy thankfully grabbed me and told me the other two were undercover cops.

the moral? heroism may well be retrospect. defending a kid beset by a guy twice his size surrounded by his friends, also twice the kid's size: perhaps heroism. getting arrested for assaulting a police officer: not heroism.

but in any event, i'm relieved to know that the annapolis police are hard at work ridding our streets of the terror that rides the boards.

[roll eyes]

[red5angel]

nice, I had a skateboarding experience that ended at gunpoint! The cop was trying to get us down from this retaining wall and we wouldnt come down. we werent doing anything wrong. anyway he pulled his gun and threatened to shoot us off. needless to say we came down, he had us spread eagle at gunpoint until backup arrived. 3 of us 14 year olds and this cop! It still cracks me up!
I have respect for our police forces dont get me wrong but some people just dont get it.

[red5angel]

seriously though I have noticed a lot of apathy come about in our society. I take the bus everyday and if it fills up my first thought is to offer my seat, I wont sit down if there are other people who can. Especially older people and, call me old fashioned, women or children.
I also notice that the minute I do its like a cascade effect, it happens all around!

[apoweyn]

i do that on the DC metro too. thankless endeavor sometimes though. sometimes, people will thank you. sometimes, they'll sneer at you like you just took a dump in their coffee. but they'll still take your seat.


stuart b.

[red5angel]

fortunately I have always got smiles, although often times I have to ask more then one person, since the first wont take it!

[apoweyn]

precisely the opposite problem. :\

[red5angel]

Its what they call Minnesota nice. I say its nice as ice! Seriously, I dont know if it is just the cold weather that has people around here so uptight or what but....

[yenhoi]

I fought a guy at a bar at a bar who started a fight with my buddy, broke his arm. I dont ride busses or walk through parks tho. At my 'old pad' there was a cemetary you could walk through to get to campus faster, it wasent really dangerous, but really fun to walk through with girls at night when sleightly intoxicated.

[shaolinboxer]

The hard part is doing nice things for people and having them be totally ungrateful. I find myself giving up seats, or picking up a dropped imbrella, or asking a woman who seems to be in trouble "are you ok?" only to be ignored or insulted.

Ofcourse, this is not always the case...but sometimes it's hard not to hesitate due to these experiences.

Then again, I recall once I was walking down the street and some portable scaffolding a painter was standing on detached from it's lock in position and began to roll/lean into traffic. Instead of getting out of the way, I dove under it and held it up while the guy climed down to safety. He was very grateful and said "thanks buddy, I could have been killed".

So be a hero, but don't expect appreciation or you might be disappointed.

[ewallace]

Back in middle school I jumped into the middle of a circle with about 30 kids who were pushing and making fun of a "physically & mentally challanged" kid. I played the crazy man role and wide-eyed I started shouting "One more person touches this kid and I will pound the fuk out of you every day for the next two weeks". No one ever layed a hand on him again. I didn't think about the consequences or pain or disciplinary action. I just did it. I think that is one of those things you are born either with or without. Even though it was middle school and I have a lot more to lose now, the fact that I "just did it" without hesitation still plays in my mind.

I also got my nose broke standing up for some of my friends who were smaller. Fricken guy knew wing chun. That is why I really like wing chun :)

[apoweyn]

shaolinboxer,

"So be a hero, but don't expect appreciation or you might be disappointed."

all kidding aside, that's essentially what confucius said.


stuart b.

[Colin]

Yep it really pays to help out others!

I was at a Club type do, with some mates,we were there with our Bikes and some one said that there was trouble near where we had parked up.
So.... a friend and I went to check on the bikes. But when we got there we saw a guy on the floor all curled up, being kicked by a circle of 8-10 blokes.
My friend Matt (bless him) looked at me, said Oh Sh!it and grabbed the nearest one. I also grabbed a geezer around the neck and pulled him off, but as I did so someone stuck me in the left lat, just down from the arm pit.
Funny how it doesn't hurt just sort of goes like a dull numbness. Anyway there I was trying to fight this guy with a load of muscle tissue hanging out of my arm pit.
My mate saw what had happened and dragged me away. God man he probably saved my life! I was loosing so much blood, big cut, and heart pumping hard from the adrenalin. He was screaming to get an ambulance, while slapping me to keep me conscious
. He actually held the hole together with his hands until the medics got there!

Question is would I jump in to help someone again?
Answer honestly yes! I think we all forget personal safety sometimes when we see another getting hurt.

My friend was the hero in this, he kept so cool.

Colin..

[red5angel]

Ap, I have to agree with what you said, I try to be nice without worrying about it. I realize you cant help but notice when you get the snub but in general I try not to take it to heart.