Fell off the Train

Indie_Kid

Southsaver wrote: »

Someone told me once that a teacher had to phone the parents of a child to ask permission to put a plaster on the child's arm; turned out that the mum came in to the school to do it herself. I find that kind of pathetic, but I haven’t got my own kids so it might not be.

Some people are allergic to plasters.

Sharon87

I live in London and if I see people on the floor I don't know whether if they're drunk or injured. But especially in busy crowds people behind you just walk into you if you pause to try and help. So even if you want to help it's hard to.

Luckily I haven't witnessed too much of people on the floor or falling over, being mugged.etc

I wouldn't know how to react in situations like that, I feel like I want to help, but there's something that says the person will be fine or others will help. It's weird. I think it's because I never used to be able to talk to strangers, I was a bit shy. Nowadays I usually tell people if they've dropped something.

I sometimes get people asking me if they can carry my big suitcase upstairs at the train stations though.

InaPickle

Southsaver wrote: »

When I was working at a few train stations (steam locomotive), I was told a boy fell between the train and the platform on a day I wasn't there. Apparently my colleagues had to ask the parents if it's okay to help him once they have got on to the tracks; to see if he wasn't badly injured. Luckily, he only came off with a few cuts and bruises but for a child it is a big drop. Even if we could stop a child from being seriously hurt, we have to step back and let it happen as the parents could sue. We just grin at parents who nudge their children off the train instead of getting off first, then helping their kids off (the train is over a foot higher than the platform).

We can help adults (and I did a few times) but helping/touching children is not allowed without permission. It's so stupid that we have to follow those kinds of rules in today’s society. Someone told me once that a teacher had to phone the parents of a child to ask permission to put a plaster on the child's arm; turned out that the mum came in to the school to do it herself. I find that kind of pathetic, but I haven’t got my own kids so it might not be.

I think most parents think it is: I have a cousin who is albino and when he was at primary school his mum had to send in a permission letter for the whole year saying that when it was sunny the teacher had permission to put suncream on him for playtimes, so that the teacher didn't get in trouble, else they wouldn't do it and he would burn to a crisp.

That's PC gone mad!

Hope your ankle gets better soon, InTrouble!

GemJar_2

When I was about 16 I saw an elderly lady fall over at a bus stop, it was icey and snowing at the time, and her shopping went everywhere. It amazed me to see people just watching and not helping her. I stopped and gave her my coat, phoned and ambulance and her husband. She was crying and saying her husband would shout at her because she couldn't cook christmas dinner now! Anyway the ambulance arrived and she phoned me about a week later(I presume her husband had done 1471 when I phoned him), she'd broken her ankle and her wrist. She phoned to tell me she'd written into the local newspaper thanking me and the bus conductor that had helped. My mum put the newspaper clipping into a folder I take with me to job interviews with my exam certificates in, and I'm convinced it has sealed the deal for me getting my last two jobs. Karma, eh?

pinkteapot

A couple of years ago I tripped over walking to Liverpool Street station during evening rush hour. I was really surprised that a few people stopped to help me up, and one kind lady gave my handbag back to me that had skittered away.

Those strangers were more use than my friends. We went on a group holiday in our early 20s to some chavved up caravan park on a Sun £9.50 deal. We were playing frisbee on the park's playing field and as it was hot I stupidly kicked my shoes off. I then ran full tilt on to some broken glass. Without thinking I brushed a big piece of glass out of my foot which of course set off the bleeding. All my friends ran round me gawping, not a clue what to do. I found a tampon in my bag and through my shock-hazed brain thought 'that will soak up blood!' and used two plasters I had to tape it to my foot. :rotfl: Friends finally stepped in and one gave me a piggy back up to the camp reception. I think their first aider was a bit bemused when he found my wound dressing.

Southsaver_2

sh1305 wrote: »

Some people are allergic to plasters.

I hadn't thought of an allergic reaction, even my skin gets irritated by some medical tape/plasters.

miss_independent

OP, I'm sorry about your foot hope it is well on the mend. Sadly, this doesn't surprise me. I lived in London for a short time but left because, amongst other things, as a single 21 year old woman at the time who didn't know a soul the loneliness and unfriendly nature of people was unbearable and I would get dirty looks for saying "thankyou" at the supermarket because it held up the person behind me or looked at as if I was a weirdo if I asked where the nearest bank was or said "Goodmorning" to someone I saw everyday. One of the key things that made me realise London was not for me was when my mum collapsed in a busy tube station during rush hour and literally hundreds of people stepped over her (or on her) and complained loudly about how much of an inconvenience this was. The only people that stopped and helped her get on her feet were a couple of (unrelated) Australians. I couldn't believe how rude people had been, especially knowing that the example my mother set me as a child was to help those in need. I can recall her stopping to help elderly people in town who had fallen or been knocked down and one old lady who had a very heavy nosebleed as she is a nurse and felt it was her duty to offer medical help when needed.

A few years ago, my Dad very nearly died from a massive heart attack. He was walking at the time and felt pain in his chest and went to the nearest bus-stop to ask for help and assistance. Someone called an ambulance and said "there is a guy having a heart attack" but then when the bus came everyone went and left him. Because they had no point of contact, it took the ambulance 30 minutes to find him (they just knew that there was a man at a bus stop on this particular very long road). He said in that time he asked 3 others for help but they just said, "sorry, got to get on my bus". It breaks my heart to think that my dad could have died alone in the street because no one had a bit of compassion and they couldn't have just waited for the next bus. Luckily, the cardiac staff were first rate and saved his life.

Introuble28

There's actually some really sad stories here. Maybe all us Moneysavers should make a pact to always help someone in need and then it might catch on!

Ankle update - Nearly got a shoe on today! Am wandering about with my stick like Nanny McPhee!

InaPickle

Introuble28 wrote: »

There's actually some really sad stories here. Maybe all us Moneysavers should make a pact to always help someone in need and then it might catch on!

Ankle update - Nearly got a shoe on today! Am wandering about with my stick like Nanny McPhee!

I agree, but I would replace the word 'sad' with 'shocking'. How is it possible that people have become so self-absorbed and selfish that they can't spare just a few minutes of their time? I know we all have times when we are genuinely busy or feel that we just can't stop (running late for a job interview, for example), but on an average day - that's most days, for most people - I can't understand how anyone could walk by someone in some form of distress and leave them. How do they sleep at nights? Is it diffusing responsibilty to the group at large so that they don't feel individually responsible?

squashy

Happened to my lovely Grandad, he had a heart attack in the middle of Altrincham bus/tram interchange and was crawling on his hands and knees trying to get to his car because he was too proud to ask for help. I think people thought he was just some old drunk :-( Not one person approached him and he was there like that for around 45 minutes!

(He made a recovery thank goodness but needed heart surgery)