Answer a Moral Dilemma: To Render Aid or Not
#126
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same here. I escaped an armed car-jacking once. early one morning but day light. near the 1970s Rindge Towers affordable housing development Cambridge, Massachusetts near Alewife Station. I stopped at the traffic light, at the end of Route 2, in the right lane. a car pulls up alongside me (in the left lane) but not at the line, about 10feet back from where normal ppl would stop. had the window open w/ an elbow resting on the door. curious I look back & see a young man, getting out of the passenger door w/ 1 hand hidden behind his back. I see more kids in the back seat (w/ petrified faces. they looked really scared). the kid w/ his hand behind his back is caught off guard by my seeing him & he asks if I know the time. I said no & took off thru the light. left them in my dust & they didn't chase. in hindsight I should have reported it to the local police, just so they would know
Back in the 1980s, a teenage kid tried to "bikejack" me by crouching down and putting a stick in my spokes from the curb. I couldn't even figure out why he thought it would work, since anyone with their eyes open is going to swerve to the left if you see anyone on the curb. He succeeded in cracking me up, but not in the way he meant to. I think I laughed for about 5 minutes, it was such a ridiculous attempt.
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#127
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Back in the 1980s, a teenage kid tried to "bikejack" me by crouching down and putting a stick in my spokes from the curb. I couldn't even figure out why he thought it would work, since anyone with their eyes open is going to swerve to the left if you see anyone on the curb. He succeeded in cracking me up, but not in the way he meant to. I think I laughed for about 5 minutes, it was such a ridiculous attempt.
Last edited by rumrunn6; 03-01-22 at 02:22 PM.
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#128
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Pretty sure no one said anything like "better safe than sorry is wrong" and "always take candy from strangers", and I have to question the paranoia level of anyone who would equate those statements with "help people if you can". Like that's such a crazy concept.
#129
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I think at the end of the day, we make the determination whether or not to offer help based on too many factors to generalize. I once gave water and food to three guys walking north in a remote part of far-southern Arizona. I've been told that doing so was dangerous and possibly illegal, but we all calibrate our moral compasses differently.
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On a training ride today, I either bonked or overheated. I decided to sit on the side of the road. A kind lady comes out of her house with a bottle of water and asked if I was diabetic or if I needed medical care. I was thirsty.
Good thing I had my portable HPLC with me.
Hit the spot.
Good thing I had my portable HPLC with me.
Hit the spot.
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#131
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I think at the end of the day, we make the determination whether or not to offer help based on too many factors to generalize. I once gave water and food to three guys walking north in a remote part of far-southern Arizona. I've been told that doing so was dangerous and possibly illegal, but we all calibrate our moral compasses differently.
The water is quite possibly life-or-death aid, so yes, screw the legalities and some risks to our safety are worth taking.
#132
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Who said you were? I'm actually not terribly afraid of meeting anyone on a lonely bike path as my evasion skills are pretty damn good.
Pretty sure no one said anything like "better safe than sorry is wrong" and "always take candy from strangers", and I have to question the paranoia level of anyone who would equate those statements with "help people if you can". Like that's such a crazy concept.
Pretty sure no one said anything like "better safe than sorry is wrong" and "always take candy from strangers", and I have to question the paranoia level of anyone who would equate those statements with "help people if you can". Like that's such a crazy concept.
and I am the crazy one ???
#133
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Let me explain this to you--I'm not proposing to lock you in, I'm suggesting you're so fearful that you might want to lock people out of your bomb shelter while you work out.
You obviously think this world is too dangerous to ride about in.
Get it now?
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#134
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Wooooshhhhh!
Let me explain this to you--I'm not proposing to lock you in, I'm suggesting you're so fearful that you might want to lock people out of your bomb shelter while you work out.
You obviously think this world is too dangerous to ride about in.
Get it now?
Let me explain this to you--I'm not proposing to lock you in, I'm suggesting you're so fearful that you might want to lock people out of your bomb shelter while you work out.
You obviously think this world is too dangerous to ride about in.
Get it now?
I should not have to explain this to you
#135
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The internet is getting weirder by the day.
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I think at the end of the day, we make the determination whether or not to offer help based on too many factors to generalize. I once gave water and food to three guys walking north in a remote part of far-southern Arizona. I've been told that doing so was dangerous and possibly illegal, but we all calibrate our moral compasses differently.
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#137
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On a training ride today, I either bonked or overheated. I decided to sit on the side of the road. A kind lady comes out of her house with a bottle of water and asked if I was diabetic or if I needed medical care. I was thirsty.
Good thing I had my portable HPLC with me.
Hit the spot.
Good thing I had my portable HPLC with me.
Hit the spot.
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Last edited by rsbob; 03-01-22 at 06:43 PM.
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#139
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Uhh, I'm pretty sure I have a better idea of where the line between rational caution and irrational fear is than you. Hate to break it to you but any food you buy in a grocery is potentially poisoned food from strangers.
#140
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Am sure you are being quite literal rather than alluding to all the processed, carcinogenic, antibiotic laced and additive laced crap sold by the big industrial producers. And can you pass me a Dorito, please?
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#141
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I always make it point to stop and offer help, some say no, but I have had to try to help push a car in my cleats, life varies, my wife doesn't stop for anyone but gets mad when she doesn't get stopped for either, we create our own world
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...if I disappear from the forum, I think my wife has been slowly poisoning me with arsenic. I can't really blame her, because I'm hard to live with.
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#145
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Woosh yet again. No, you are. You claimed you never take potentially poisoned food from strangers.
I'm making fun of your logic by pointing out that literally all food you eat is handled by strangers at some point unless you're growing and raising it yourself, and any food is "potentially poisoned."
Do you never eat out? Do you only buy from restaurants owned and staffed by people you know?
Which one of us made fun of other people for not worrying about being poisoned? Who claimed people were advocating "taking candy from strangers?" Do you actually know of ANY incident where a camper poisoned a stranger with food or a meal?
The actual stranger poisonings that have occurred have happened in stores and restaurants. Those grocery incidents are rare enough that I literally don't think about the possibility at all. I personally know women who have had strangers spike their drinks at bars, but since I don't drink, I don't personally believe this is a threat to me. I also wouldn't think it was paranoid if someone was very careful about not leaving their drinks unattended in a crowded bar.
And btw, not taking candy from a stranger is a warning given to children to avoid stranger abduction. Were you suggesting there's someone kidnapping cyclists by luring them with food?
#146
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Yes, I'm quite literally referring to the "stranger danger" poisoning spectre the other guy raised. You want an argument about the food industry, this is probably the wrong forum and definitely the wrong thread.
And Doritos are gross, I don't eat them. You can have mine.
BTW, the last time I rendered aid to a cyclist, the main thing I did was give him a Kind bar because he may have been bonking and that was the only food I happened to be carrying. I assure you I was not trying to "poison" him with any ingredients you didn't approve.
Last edited by livedarklions; 03-02-22 at 06:14 AM.
#147
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I wonder what the response would have been if you had offered him a Kirkland Nut Bar.
John
John
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#148
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Woosh yet again. No, you are. You claimed you never take potentially poisoned food from strangers.
I'm making fun of your logic by pointing out that literally all food you eat is handled by strangers at some point unless you're growing and raising it yourself, and any food is "potentially poisoned."
Do you never eat out? Do you only buy from restaurants owned and staffed by people you know?
Which one of us made fun of other people for not worrying about being poisoned? Who claimed people were advocating "taking candy from strangers?" Do you actually know of ANY incident where a camper poisoned a stranger with food or a meal?
The actual stranger poisonings that have occurred have happened in stores and restaurants. Those grocery incidents are rare enough that I literally don't think about the possibility at all. I personally know women who have had strangers spike their drinks at bars, but since I don't drink, I don't personally believe this is a threat to me. I also wouldn't think it was paranoid if someone was very careful about not leaving their drinks unattended in a crowded bar.
And btw, not taking candy from a stranger is a warning given to children to avoid stranger abduction. Were you suggesting there's someone kidnapping cyclists by luring them with food?
I'm making fun of your logic by pointing out that literally all food you eat is handled by strangers at some point unless you're growing and raising it yourself, and any food is "potentially poisoned."
Do you never eat out? Do you only buy from restaurants owned and staffed by people you know?
Which one of us made fun of other people for not worrying about being poisoned? Who claimed people were advocating "taking candy from strangers?" Do you actually know of ANY incident where a camper poisoned a stranger with food or a meal?
The actual stranger poisonings that have occurred have happened in stores and restaurants. Those grocery incidents are rare enough that I literally don't think about the possibility at all. I personally know women who have had strangers spike their drinks at bars, but since I don't drink, I don't personally believe this is a threat to me. I also wouldn't think it was paranoid if someone was very careful about not leaving their drinks unattended in a crowded bar.
And btw, not taking candy from a stranger is a warning given to children to avoid stranger abduction. Were you suggesting there's someone kidnapping cyclists by luring them with food?
say hi to toto for me, and I hope you find the emerald city
#149
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I’m pretty certain that after Dorothy came to her senses and looked around, she probably thought, “This place really blows compared to the emerald city.”
Be careful what you wish for.
John
Be careful what you wish for.
John
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#150
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"Give me a name brand or give me disorientation!"
He was a really nice old man and I was the first of about 6 people who gathered together to help him. He was sitting very awkwardly in the middle of the path in front of a bollard with his bike sitting (also awkwardly) next to him, but he denied crashing. Just said that he had gotten dizzy all of a sudden, leaned up against the bollard, and just needed to sit down to recover for a bit. It was odd enough that we decided to stay with him to make sure he really was ok. I offered him the bar because he mentioned something about blood sugar. After about 5 minutes, he took up another person's offer to ride home with him to make sure he got back ok. While he was recovering, we spent a few minutes talking about his bespoke 1990s Litespeed that he claimed had been delivered to him by the president of the company. It was a really nice bike, so I decided his story probably checked out and it was perhaps the most enjoyable conversation I've had assessing someone's level of orientation.