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I don't know how many of you have experienced a good samaritan in your life, but I feel like it's very uncommon here in Norway. I, for one, had my first meeting about an hour ago with one of these people, and I must say it came as a very pleasant suprise. It wasn't a very big deed, but it's worth mentioning nontheless. (It might also be because I'm still a bit drunk and philosophical, but here it goes.)
I spent the evening and night at a friends house, which is about 20 minutes of driving from where I live, far out on the country side. After the party had blown over a bit, two of my friends desided to sleep over there, and requested me to do the same. The clock was about 5 AM by this time, and I wasn't feeling very sleepy at all, so I figure I'd walk home. It had rained a few minutes before, but not very heavily, and the sky seemed clear enough to hold it in for about an hour, so I gave it a shot.
After I had walked for about 15 minutes along the road, a car advanced on me from behind and honked twice. There was a bus stop just a few meters ahead, and it pulled over and came to a halt there. I had a few minutes earlier sent out a text to some of my other friends and asked them to pick me up, so I immediately assumed it was one of them. However I had not recieved any response from any of them, and I did not recognize the car at all, so I found it a bit odd.
When I opened the car door I found the driver wasn't anybody I knew from before. It was a dark skinned male around 25-30 years old, so I immediately thought about the stereotypical pirate cab. This is very common in the larger cities around here, but not so far out on the countryside. "Get in if you want help" he said with a crude norwegian accent, so I responded with "how much do you want?". He didn't seem to understand me, so he said again "Get in if you want help". I immediately came to realize that I didn't have any money on me, so I told this to the driver, but he didn't seem to completely understand me. After a bit back and forth trying to explain, he finally said "It's no problem if you don't have anything, just get in if you want help". I found this to be very odd, and was naturally a bit sceptical. As I had never experienced anything like this before, I started to think if he was trying to trick me into the car for something. Was he trying to rob me? (Looking back at this it was a really stupid thought, but I was still quite drunk at the time :p ) I then remembered I had made it clear that I didn't have any money (doh), so I took the chance and got in.
He didn't understand norwegian very well, but he could answer a few simple questions. I found he was originally from Palestina, and had lived here in Norway for about a year and a half. He was living in a neighbour city, and was on his way home from a friend, which luckily passed close by my house. I didn't get much more information from him before I left, but I still find this astonishing.
There you have a person, which knows very little norwegian, picking up a complete stranger walking on the side of the road. He didn't ask for anything, he just wanted to help. I mean, wow, I couldn't belive my luck. What are the odds for something like this happening? As a side note it just started to rain heavily a couple of minutes after I got in the car, and I would have been soaking wet if it wasn't for this person. If more people would have been like this, the world truly would have been an awesome place. I /bow to this person.
And so my question to you is this:
Is it common for people where you are to act like this? I found this to be very rare, but are people more like this other places in the world? Also, please share any other good samaritan story if you got one!
Ps, my first blog, best regards. :p
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Dude yo owe me 50 bucks for that ride
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United States4343 Posts
On August 09 2009 13:35 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:
Your welcome.
Not funny?
This was a great first blog. It's always nice to know there are still good, decent folk in this world.
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you are a lucky man 
those kinds of people are pretty rare.
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My experience isn't very impressive or outstanding, but it's the one "good samaritan" experience that I can remember and probably will for a long time.
I remember in my freshman year of university, I communted back and forth quite a distance, sometimes even going to work after classes were over. Each of my destinations required using the highway, even though it was my first few months driving. One day, I was called to work by my dad and I was on my way, when I absentmindedly continued on when I was supposed to take an exit. I only realized my situation when I thought I was driving too long and by that time, I was well along the end of the highway into some rural area with a completely unfamiliar setting. Knowing I was lost, I stopped by and entered a gas station to ask for directions. Unfortunately, the shop was was run by a foreign middle-aged man who didn't even understand my situation, or care to for that matter. By a stroke of luck, however, this shaggy looking dude came in and overheard my situation while he was paying for some gas, and casually offered to help me by letting me follow his car to the similar path that he was going to take. I gladly took up his offer and was not let down, he even stopped his car to the side when I was cut off at a red light so I could catch up, slowing down at turns and intersections. Eventually, he and I had to part ways because of different destinations, but by then I already found the familiar road of the highway I was used to.
This incident may not seem like much of a big deal, but for me an amateur driver at the time, it was a deed I would never forget. I usually have a hard time remembering faces, but I can still recall the laid-back attitude he had while giving me a thumbs up as he rolled down his window right before he and I took separate paths on the forked road. To whomever you are out there, cheers and thank you for helping out that time! 
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You're lucky you didn't get kidnapped. I wouldn't take chances with random persians pulling up next to me and asking me to get in.
Ok, maybe in Norway I would, but if it was eastern europe or south america, fuck no.
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still fairly common in Eastern Europe, happens in the US too( not big cities obviously)
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I don't think it was stupid at all to be reluctant to get in. Maybe I'm just a bit ignorant as to what kind of city you live in, but getting in some guy's care that you've never seen before seems like a bad decision.
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On August 09 2009 14:02 Sadistx wrote:
You're lucky you didn't get kidnapped. I wouldn't take chances with random persians pulling up next to me and asking me to get in.
Ok, maybe in Norway I would, but if it was eastern europe or south america, fuck no.
LOL i just mentioned it too. I don't think you'd be kidnapped if you randomly walking down the street. You can probably get robbed but something like kidnapping usually requires planning.
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To me, it's kinda risky that you'd get in a stranger's car.
Yet it's stories like these that prove all the cynics wrong.
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Thank you. You have made me retain my hope for humanity for at least another day. Stories like these make me realize not only that good happens, but that its appreciated when it does. Makes you feel like doing more knowing it really can help people.
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A lot of people in the southern states of the US are reallllllyy nice. Way more so than in California which is where I'm at now. Everyone says "hi" to each other, all the neighbors know each other, and if you're having car problems or something, there is always someone to help you. Just a few examples on the top of my head; they just seem so innocent!
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Maybe it' s just a difference of cultures and that you were a little drunk -- but you really shouldn't accept rides from complete strangers.
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It's not that there aren't a lot of people who would give someone a ride.. it's that if you start pulling up next to people asking them if they need a ride there's a good chance they will say something along the lines of "Get away from me"
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Washington D.C. area... not common at all. People around here suffer from the "junior undersecretary syndrome" (in other words, they think along the lines of "Well, I'm the junior undersecretary for Mr. Big who has connections with political movers and shakers, so I'm a bigshot too!"). It's more often for me to be the one playing the role of good samaritan. Except when driving. God damn you if you try to cut me off because I will fuck you up. ROAD RAGE MOTHER FUCKERS!
(...I'm only half joking...)
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On August 09 2009 14:34 Hiphopapotamus wrote:
A lot of people in the southern states of the US are reallllllyy nice. Way more so than in California which is where I'm at now. Everyone says "hi" to each other, all the neighbors know each other, and if you're having car problems or something, there is always someone to help you. Just a few examples on the top of my head; they just seem so innocent!
California is an odd mix. It depends a lot on what city you live in. I find LA to have a very detached atmosphere, but San Deigo and Santa Barbara were nice.
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On August 09 2009 13:50 Psyonic_Reaver wrote:Not funny? This was a great first blog. It's always nice to know there are still good, decent folk in this world.
he's not saying that he is welcome, he's talking about his welcome.
I like people like this and try to be one myself as often as possible
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Korea (South)11602 Posts
Mortality is a good guy, helped me pass Business Calculus! (Ended up with an A thanks Chris!)
But i would say 3 years ago I had my car break down due to a flat tire in a random neighborhood, as i was trying to make a u-turn. Well, some random guy who was mowing his lawn came and helped me out as he helped me get my tire off from under my truck and helped me put it back on. I offered to give him money afterwards but he said no, and he told me to keep the car wrench. he's a good guy. wish i knew which house was his so i could give him a basket of cookies off of the Pokerstars VIP store.
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On August 09 2009 14:34 Hiphopapotamus wrote:
A lot of people in the southern states of the US are reallllllyy nice. Way more so than in California which is where I'm at now. Everyone says "hi" to each other, all the neighbors know each other, and if you're having car problems or something, there is always someone to help you. Just a few examples on the top of my head; they just seem so innocent! that's the legendary "southern hospitality" for you
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EPT
