Columns Oct 16, 2013 at 4:00 am

The Loneliness of the Ignored Strandee

Comments

1
Boo, that sucks.

(The last time I pulled over to see if I could help a stranded person, I got a raised eyebrow and a snotty, "I have a cellphone. Everyone has a cellphone." Cut the drivers some slack - most probably didn't see you in time, and most of the rest probably assumed you'd already called for help. But there probably were a few assholes in the bunch, and, yeah, fuck those guys.)
2
Isn't that what AAA is for?
3
Off ramps are a terrible place for would-be rescuers to pull over, anon.
4
You should always stop and at least ask if help is needed. As for the "I have a cell phone" guy, what a tool.

It's what you do when you're on your way somewhere and you don't feel like stopping that determines your character. Get out in the cold rain and help, or just keep on driving? Eventually, we're all on both sides of that exchange. It's all about Karma, Kramer.
5
What car problem could you possibly have on an off-ramp that would be solvable with jumper cables? If your battery died while you were driving, a jump start won't help you any.
6
This is ridiculous. Reader01 is correct but I would take it one step further. You should never stop to offer assistance on the freeway or any ramp unless the traffic volume is low and you're in the middle of nowhere. Risking your own life to help someone jump-start their out-of-gas car is foolish and puts two people at risk instead of one. IA is a class AAA moron.
7
It's 2013. Have a cell phone for emergencies. If you're poor you can get a pre-paid phone for about $20 and just have it in the glove box.

If you drive, get insurance from a company that includes an emergency service number for towing/jumping.

Finally, maintain your vehicle. Driving is a privilege and a road-worthy car is your responsibility.

If you live in an area with extreme weather, have an emergency box ready. For heat, mostly you just want several large bottles of water, possibly a blanket that you could use to make a shade tent, some snacks that won't get gross - hard granola bars, packages of nuts.

For cold you'll want the above plus higher-calorie snacks (for body heat) possibly some chemical heating packets like hunters use.

Instead of projecting your anger outward, think about who really is at fault for your situation and learn from it.

8
@7: Shit happens outside the scope of reasonable preparation. Get off your fucking high horse, Ayn Rand.
9
#6: You are hereby absolved from any responsibility for helping anyone with car trouble, now that you have revealed your belief that jumper cables will start a car that has run out of gas.
10
about 15 years ago on the west seattle bridge, a guy pulled over to help someone that had his flashers on.. when he walked to the window to see if he could help, the driver rolled down his window and threw acid in his face..fuck this whiner and anyone that complains about people that don't stop to help..it's a dog eat dog world out their and if you expect people to help you every time you get a little sand in your mangina, you'll be the pussy that's getting eaten.
11
Hey IA, your lazy dumbass could have walked a few blocks to the SERVICE STATION right there in Montlake.

But no, you chose the low road, choosing to be a whiny little infant crying to the world that no one would stop to wipe your nose, change your diapers and hold your hand on an incredibly busy off ramp.

Geez motherfucker it's not like you were drowning in the lake or something. Your fucking battery died.
12
They really should change the name of this column to "White peoples problems"
13
I have AAA. I can call for a jump even if it *is not my car*.

It's a little hard to turn a car around safely on a highway, but AAA will jump any *ANY* car a subscriber calls for a jump for. Same with lockouts.

I have used my AAA for several stranded folks.

It's just being a good person.
14
ktjulio sez - They really should change the name of this column to "White peoples problems"

I know right, even if a colored person could afford a car they wouldn't be smart enough to have jumper cables and who could see them at night anyways?
15
@5 I'm certainly no Click nor Clack here, but part of me has a sneaking suspicion that said "strandee" didn't experience any car problems at all and, in fact, had something else in mind for those handy portable jumper clampers of his entirely. Like maybe he's the guy who's actually out there hoping to provide some emergency roadside service, not vice versa.
16
@14: As a black man, I thought I had never before encountered such edgy, daring humor. But since I'm not smart enough to compose posts on my own (c'mon, I just got myself untangled from those jumper cables my neighbor lent to me), I had a white man double-check my work and it turns out I thought "edgy" meant "needlessly defensive" and "daring" meant "ignorant".
17
You didn't have a phone to call for help?
18
@16: I don't believe you. Black people don't read The Stranger.
20
If you're battery is dead, and you were driving when it happened, than it's not your battery and a jump will not help. Spent two hours of my life one time with a guy trying to jump his car over and over again. Don't be so cheap, call a tow or call your dad/friend/lover, don't blame the traveling public for your POS car.
21
AAA is like $40 a year, for chrissakes...get it.
22

@8, hilarious. As for most others, I wish I hadn't read them. Trolls all.
23
Possible scenario.....Bridge is open for boat traffic, vehicles get backed up both directions on the Montlake exit (anonymous didn't say which direction he or she was going) I have sat there many times and shut my car off to save gas. If this was the case and didn't want to wait for AAA or walk a half a mile I would be inclined to do what anonymous did. However, I realize not everyone would be so inclined to help.
24
1)It sounds like more of an alternator problem than the battery. If it was, there'd be nothing to do for it but to have the car towed.

2)The people bashing "Anon" are assuming this person knew about the gas station a half-mile away. It's possible that she or he didn't know the area, or that it looked too dangerous to that person to try to walk to it in the situation.

3)Even if you didn't think you could safely stop, would it kill you to at least call 911 on your cel and let SOMEBODY know this person needed help?

4)Do the folks who were hatin' on "Anon" here also take a hard line on nursing sick puppies and kitties back to help? Jesus!
25
@18: Tee hee hee. How daring of you.
@24: I know, right?
26
Yes I, as an alone reasonably attractive female who appears to be in her early to mid 20s am going to stop and get out of my car for a random male stranger holding a pair of jumper cables by the side of the road. I've seen Silence of the Lambs, thank you very much, and I don't feel the need to end up as someone's skin dress. (And yes, Buffalo Bill WAS based on a real life serial killer; his name was Ed Gein and he did actually make skin suits from women's skin.) I'll be calling 911 for you from the comfort of my car as I drive by, as I have for many before you and will for many in the future. It wasn't snowing, you weren't going to starve or freeze to death, help in the form of actual human contact was not necessary.

Hey, Anon, why don't you stop being such an entitled, privileged asshole and think about what stopping on the side of the road would mean to the people who would help you. While you're at it, don't assume people didn't call for help just because they didn't stop.
27
Were you holding the cables in both hands over your head, and making eye contact with each driver? You have to make people WANT to stop.
28
"holding the cables in both hands over your head"

Doing it wrong. You attach one end to your penis, hold the other end in your hand offering it to each passerby, and make eye contact with each driver. Help will be there *immediately*.
29
Yowzers.
30
he obviously doesn't have a dick..yet he is a dick..can we both be right??

I like pudding..chocolate with marshmallows.. sort of like the jello with fruit, but pudding with little white marshmallows,,
31
@26, Ed Gein is the basis for a lot of serial-killer fiction, including "Psycho."
32
I'm curious about #7. All good advice for motorists, but do you really think that the average person in this area has any of these things in their auto? Maybe jumper cables, but how many times have you seen a relatively new car on the shoulder with a flat tire and a person sitting in the car waiting for AAA because their spare is flat? What a waste of time! AAA is for my Grandma! What a bunch of lazy assholes that can't change their own flats. Probably republicans.
33
#26 Isn't this a wonderful place to be anonymous? You say you are reasonably attractive, my guess is that you are not. My take of your lame post is that you are an unattractive male, mid 20's, can't get laid to save your soul, and you are using this medium to garner sympathy and revenge on the better looking male counterparts that have gotten the sweaty sex that you so desparately want. Take off the hoodie, get rid of the saggy pants that look extremely stupid and remove all the jewelry from your face that makes you look like you sneezed into my Dads tackle box. Then maybe some nice girl might want to take you to Starbucks and have conversation.
34
It is possible for those who live in the city and the 'burbs to drive cars for their entire lives without knowing ANYTHING about how cars "work," beyond the owner knowing how much they paid for those SWEET rims. That is how you get advice such as from

poster 6: "Risking your own life to help someone jump-start their out-of-gas car is foolish and puts two people at risk instead of one."

****************

IF the battery was dead, it was likely due to a failure of the alternator, generator, wiring, voltage regulator, or possibly, a ravaged exhaust system causing vapor-lock, resulting in the car stalling and unable to start. Eventually, it drains the battery. Jumper cables would not fix this.

AAA and a super-cheap cell phone (WITH A CHARGED BATTERY) would have made a helluva lot of difference.
35
@16, this is why you're one of my favourite commenters. (I lurk here a lot.)
36
lolo, then you gotta have your work checked by a white woman next time!
37
36 comments and no COCAINE or MALT LIQUOR?! And I thought the shutdown was over! It's a sad day indeed.
38
@8 I'm not being Ayn Rand, I'm being the father (or handy mother) Anon should have had that explained the responsibilities any car owner should know.

It's a little pathetic that a whiff of personal responsibility makes you the "Boy Who Called Objectivism" but I guess for making excuses is "reasonable preparation" for some.

As far as the writer, he/she wrote in for a range of responses so don't be such a concern troll, lolorhone.

This wasn't someone considering suicide who needed to be handled with kid-gloves.

He/she didn't understand why people didn't want to stop to help some angry, desperate asshole running around the freeway with jumper cables, LOL. It's a totally fixable problem.
39
Bravo. move to the country, the rednecks almost always lend a hand.
40
@33

I'm 31 and look really young for my age, and people often think I'm still in college or grad school, hence the description, of appearing in my early or mid 20's.

But really, I don't give a fuck if you think I am who I say I am. You're just a random anonymous person on the internet as well (read troll) and I don't need your validation to know who I really am. You, apparently, are sad enough that you need to try to tear people down to feel good about yourself. So just to make you happy, and so I don't have to deal with assholes like you posting shit like this again, at least in this paper, I posted a profile picture. Have fun with your new masturbation fodder (not because I'm conceited enough to think that the pic will get you off but that the perceived power trip will).

Regardless of who I am, my points are valid, which is more than I can say for any of your comments on this thread.
41
@40 Judging by your Pic. it looks like you would enjoy a good spanking. Judging by your attitude from other posts from other articles, I seem to be one of many who you have attacked. And yes, you are conceited, self righteous and I am wasting my time.
42
@36

A few years ago I met a disheveled young male (I would hesitate to call him a "man") in the break room at work who confessed that he had been sleeping overnight on the break room couch for the past 3 days.

Me: "Why the hell.."

Him: "My car has a flat tire and there's no air in the spare.

Me: "Can't you get a friend to help you?"

"No one has the time."

"So call a tow truck and have it towed to a tire store."

"How much would that cost?"

"I dunno, maybe $100. Consider it the price for not having a spare and not knowing how to change a tire. You know, the directions are printed on a sheet stuck to the underside of your trunk lid."

This is the generation of males raised by single mothers.

43
@42: All Horse shit. How did you know there was a sheet of directions on the underside of his trunk lid? (Do you think all cars have that?) And how would knowing how to change a tire have helped if the spare was flat? And why would you have believed someone who was so obviously lying to you (three nights in the break room because of a flat tire?) when you were prying into his business? And WTF does any of that have to do with single mothers?
45
@43:

1. YES all cars have that.

2. I didn't pry; he volunteered the information as a passive way of asking for help. I'm old enough and experienced enough to recognize passivity.

3. My dad was a prick but he taught me how to tie a necktie and change a tire. My mom could too, but she grew up on a farm in the country where they had to do shit themselves.

46
@45

Mine doesn't; I have a hatch-back, it's got a window. But then again, almost all gas stations have tire air pumps that take quarters (at least in NYS). Plus, you don't need to tow the whole car there, just take a $5 cab ride with the spare, ask the driver to wait, fill the tire and take it back.

@41

I can't see how you get to many attacks,as I have made a total of 8 whole comments ever on the Stranger (including this one).

One consisted solely of a dictionary definition.

One a single sentence about a relationship preference I have.

One was informing one commenter of another commenter's gender.

One waxed philosophical on the nature of medical ethics in an extremely skewed "scientific" article. I don't see how disagreeing with a columnist without using any insulting language is an attack, but feel free to correct me.

So there's 4 of the 8 right there, and 2 are directed to you, so that's 6 down, 2 to go.

I freely admit that I insulted, or as you say attacked, the many, many, TWO WHOLE PEOPLE I made comments toward. I feel so ashamed.

But hey, there's nothing wrong with a good spanking, so at least I'll be able to have an outlet for that shame.
47
I don't even slow down anymore.

Most of the broke down cars have 0bama sticker on them.

And if you are that stupid, I don't want you, or your wreck, on the roads I pay taxes on.
48
@46 I apologize for my insensitive characterization of you on your first comment @26. It was totally uncalled for and extremely rude. I will change my posting habits and only insult republicans from now on.
49
@47 You don't slow down anymore.....Does that mean you used to help stranded motorists but your political inclination is to be "selective" about who you help? Most Obama supporters I know are quite smart, and financially secure and don't drive the kind of vehicles that you are characterizing them as having. On the other side of the coin, the fast food workers that the republicans idolize because of their willingness to work for minimum wage, while the republican corporations make gazillions of $from, probably are the people that have Obama stickers on their cars in hopes of someday clawing their way out of their republican caused poverty and making a living wage.
50
@45: To put it another way: How would being raised by a married mom put air in a spare tire? But I believe the first part of your third point.
51
Who the heck pulls over and helps people stranded on the side of the road these days? Call 911 and report a stranded motorist, sure! But pull over and get out of the car? Are you kidding? I don't think people have done that since Ted Bundy slapped on a fake cast and killed all those women!
52
Wow, what a bunch of hispter bullshit. A guy is asking for a jump... but I guess he's not wearing the right scarf and could be a serial kiler. Come on... this is an obvious thing to try, and even if it is the alternator, a jump will at least get him off the road. He's not asking for an engine rebuild, just two minutes of your time to help troubleshoot.

Cell phone or AAA really?! Who you gonna call? Your bro who's 30 minutes away? You really want to wait around for 2 hours while AAA gets there? Call 911? Really?! What crime are you going to report? I bet you bitch about how cops always take too long getting somewhere...

It's a fucking jump start. It takes 2 minutes. It's not unrealistic for someone to ask for one.
53
Wow, what a bunch of hispter bullshit. A guy is asking for a jump... but I guess he's not wearing the right scarf and could be a serial kiler. Come on... this is an obvious thing to try, and even if it is the alternator, a jump will at least get him off the road. He's not asking for an engine rebuild, just two minutes of your time to help troubleshoot.

Cell phone or AAA really?! Who you gonna call? Your bro who's 30 minutes away? You really want to wait around for 2 hours while AAA gets there? Call 911? Really?! What crime are you going to report? I bet you bitch about how cops always take too long getting somewhere...

It's a fucking jump start. It takes 2 minutes. It's not unrealistic for someone to ask for one.
54
@51 This isn't L.A. The Montlake offramp is a busy place, all directions are busy and for someone to say that security is an issue, they must be republicans. Help your neighbor, it will come back to you many times over. Ted Bundy????? You are a paranoid republican for sure! Sheesh!!!!!
55
@40, you're nowhere near reasonably attractive. You are gorgeous. Not that looks are important. But still. Wow.

Please wait...

Comments are closed.

Commenting on this item is available only to members of the site. You can sign in here or create an account here.


Add a comment
Preview

By posting this comment, you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.