Follow the Example of My Classmate

Last week, in English class, on October 26th, we discussed if the average person would be willing to help another when in need of assistance. The class got into a huge discussion and we all realized, mostly because of the story in our books that most people would not help if someone was for example crying for help or yelling rape. Right after this discussion, I walked into my math class to discover evidence that this was definitely true, but there are still a remarkable few who will come to the rescue. These are the few who see someone in trouble and reach out and now this few includes a fellow student of mine, a freshman in my math class.

My classmate came into class looking totally stressed out and hurried and right away began to speak of a traffic accident that occurred early that morning on her way to Tidewater Community College. She was about four cars behind a young high school girl, who driving normally, until she spilt her coffee and ran right into a tree. At first my classmate looked to see if there had been a turn she didn’t know about that this girl took, but then she saw the tree. After my classmate realized what had happened, she immediately turned around and went back to help. All the other cars, probably hundreds of them that had witnessed the accident at the same time did not stop, not even just to ask if everything was alright and being handled correctly. Not a soul tried to help this high school girl, no one except my notable classmate, but many people did take the time to be “rubberneckers,” as they are called, and slow down as they passed the accident to stare at this high school girl’s misfortune and maybe even in hopes of seeing blood, injury, or even death.

After stopping at the scene of the accident, my classmate quickly got her cell phone out of her purse and called the police to report what had happened. She then, instead of just leaving as many people probably would have done, stayed with the young girl for over an hour while the police got her statement and made sure the high school girl was doing okay. My classmate even missed one of her classes during this time period and now has to make up a test for that, but knows it was worth it to help someone else out. After all, she would want someone else to do the same for her if she was in trouble and that time will come, as it will for each and every one of us. My classmate did something taught in kindergarten; she followed the golden rule, which apparently something not many people instilled into their long term memory. Would you help someone in trouble like my classmate helped this girl? I hope you would, but whether you would or not, you need to think about this: Wouldn’t you expect someone to help you out?