Ever had a good deed backfire?

El Guapo!

I was just reading through the good deeds thread and it got me thinking about the times when good deeds have backfired or gone horribly wrong on me.

One time, only a few months ago, I was out walking my dog in the park and throwing a tennis ball for him. I was just about to go home when I spotted a kid about 12, on his own with his dog. He was watching me throw the ball back and forth and I noticed he didn't have anything to throw for his own dog.

He looked kinda sad so I walked over and asked him if he wanted my tennis ball. I said he can keep it because I've got loads more at home. He looked freaked out and just said "No" and ran off with his dog.

I was left standing there confused, still holding the tennis ball in my outstretched hand.

It was at that moment I realised I looked like a paedophile.
I mean, what sort of grown man goes around the park offering tennis balls to lonely kids and their dogs?!!

Anyway, as the title says, have you ever had a good deed monumentally backfire?

Lando Griffin

Yes.
Today I went to the vending machine promising myself a bag of crisps only and no sugary food as I want to cut doen on my sugar intake.
When the bag of crisos were falling they got stuck at the bottom. To dislodge I decided to get a chocolate bar that was above it but alas it just landed on top.
I then had to get a can of cola from the drinks section to try and shift the other pair and hey presto it worked.
I felt obliged to eat and drink it there and then.
My good deed by not eating sugar outdone by a dumb machine.

pharmaton

Gave a friend a job after he had been out of work for a while, it was only supposed to be a temporary thing until he found something else so I split some of my shifts with him and ended up so out of pocket had to leave to find work elsewhere. I used to love that job too. I have a rule about helping people now and unless they specifically ask for it I don't get involved.

mutley18

Lando Griffin wrote: »

Yes.
Today I went to the vending machine promising myself a bag of crisps only and no sugary food as I want to cut doen on my sugar intake.
When the bag of crisos were falling they got stuck at the bottom. To dislodge I decided to get a chocolate bar that was above it but alas it just landed on top.
I then had to get a can of cola from the drinks section to try and shift the other pair and hey presto it worked.
I felt obliged to eat and drink it there and then.
My good deed by not eating sugar outdone by a dumb machine.

Refusing to eat sugar is hardly a good deed though? I don't do heroin, does that count as a good deed?

Lando Griffin

mutley18 wrote: »

Refusing to eat sugar is hardly a good deed though? I don't do heroin, does that count as a good deed?

Saving the health service problems in the future.

Muise...

a dishevelled-looking fellow asked me for money. I told him I hadn't much to spare but as I was on my way in to a shop to get a few things, I'd buy him some food. I ended up at the till with a few things, waiting on the vegan who didn't have much English to read the ingredients of every tin and packet in the groceries aisle. Beggars are choosers after all.

Nabber

Bought a cup of soup for a homeless man. He told me he wanted money and not soup. Felt sorry for him and not angry.

When I lived with my parents
Got home early from the pub ine evening and found my teenage sister and her friends "experimenting" with the drinks cabinet.
Rat arsed the lot of them, so I had to get them home, the earbashing I got from their parents was unbelievable (they assumed I got the girls langered!), but at least I got a few apologies the next day.

Brego888

I remember a few years ago holding a door open for a guy coming behind me in a wheelchair. He gave me verbal lashing for "disrespecting" him. "I can manage my own doors without your help thanks" and other such comments cursing under his breath as he left.

Cheeky bastard. I would have held the door open for anyone wheelchair bound or not.

ringadingding

Lando Griffin wrote: »

Yes.
Today I went to the vending machine promising myself a bag of crisps only and no sugary food as I want to cut doen on my sugar intake.
When the bag of crisos were falling they got stuck at the bottom. To dislodge I decided to get a chocolate bar that was above it but alas it just landed on top.
I then had to get a can of cola from the drinks section to try and shift the other pair and hey presto it worked.
I felt obliged to eat and drink it there and then.
My good deed by not eating sugar outdone by a dumb machine.

Ah, the good old vending machine roulette, lose a bag of crisps one day, get a free can of coke another day.

I tip my hat to you sir, a true maverick at this game of winners and losers

Stabshauptmann

Lending people money and they dont pay it back.
Trying to help a co-worker with advice and they take it as an attack.
Trying to stop someone being bullied and end up being ostracized
Trying to solve a rental problem for our group and being attacked and shafted.

One that annoyed me - a girl on grafton st was shouting at a man to let go of her and leave her alone. In steps mise, "Are you ok". Que her telling me to F off and asking her BF to bash my head in. FFS.

Brego888

Brego888 wrote: »

I remember a few years ago holding a door open for a guy coming behind me in a wheelchair. He gave me verbal lashing for "disrespecting" him. "I can manage my own doors without your help thanks" and other such comments cursing under his breath as he left.

Cheeky bastard. I would have held the door open for anyone wheelchair bound or not.

No win situation, if you'd let it shut, you'd got even more abuse!

danslevent

My friend's dad is hilarious. Razor sharp wit coupled with the typical old Irish farmer attitude.

Anyway, when she was about 17 they were the London tube together. A young enough lady got on, about 35, and my friend's dad kept egging my friend on to give her seat to the lady. To shut him up, my friend offered the woman her seat...who in turn gave her a look of disgust and said no. She was so insulted as being seeing as older and needing the seat instead of being able to stand

stimpson

Deleted User wrote: »

When I lived with my parents
Got home early from the pub ine evening and found my teenage sister and her friends "experimenting" with the drinks cabinet.
Rat arsed the lot of them, so I had to get them home, the earbashing I got from their parents was unbelievable (they assumed I got the girls langered!), but at least I got a few apologies the next day.

This story had so much potential.

Brego888

[Deleted User] wrote: »

No win situation, if you'd let it shut, you'd got even more abuse!

Yeah I know. Was left there mortified as onlookers were giving me daggers clearly wondering what the dickhead at the door did to insult the poor innocent guy in the wheelchair!

Katgurl

Yes, I was out with a huge group of friends and friends-of-friends one night. The place emptied out early (school night) except for myself and one friend who were last to leave. As we walked out I noticed an iPhone on the ground. I put it in my bag and went home to bed. The next morning in work I left phone on my desk assuming someone would phone and help solve the puzzle. 'home' flashed up about a half hour later, it was the owner's mother. I answered, explained I had the phone, gave my direct work landline, my name, where i worked and all the rest for her to pass on to the owner.

When my landline rang instead of the gushing thanks I was expecting, I got a very weird onslaught of questioning from a girl who I remembered from the night before saying things like "explain to me very carefully how my phone came to be in your possession". A few minutes later a guy phoned (friend of hers) and asked me a load of similar questions - all very aggressive. The phone rang again and it was my friend (vaguely knew the iPhone owner) saying she had received a call from the lunatic owner basically accusing me of stealing the phone.

I have no idea what she thought - that I stole the phone, then bottled it and decided to return it.

I was so baffled by the whole thing I didn't even have the cop at the time to tell her what an ungrateful c*^t she was.

Tasden

I volunteer a couple times a week and I deal with alot of people experiencing financial difficulties or just general problems in life. Not alot of people realise the staff are a mix of paid and volunteers so they assume I'm paid to do what I do. One day there was a woman who admittedly was in a difficult situation but there was nothing our service could do to help so I referred her elsewhere. I have been experiencing similar problems to her own myself recently and said to her something like "I'm really sorry I couldn't do more to help, I understand its a difficult situation". She flipped saying things like what would you know, you're probably straight out of school and into a cushy job with no idea what responsibilities are etc. Funny thing was she was actually better off financially than I currently am and had a partner to share her "responsibility" whereas I'm bringing up my child with no support from a partner. But I volunteer my free time to help people in similar circumstances and she didn't appreciate it in the slightest.
Some people are in dire situations and they show such appreciation for any help and they're the ones that make it worthwhile.

Brego888

Ah Katgurls story reminds me off another good one. Not necessarily a backfire but you'll get the gist.

My dad has often told the story of finding a handbag in a phone box in the mid 1980's. And in the bag there was around 3000 Irish pounds cash. A significant amount of money at that time and gods knows what the equivalent with inflation would be today. Probably €10,000 to €20,000 at a guess.

Anyway he hands it in to the gardai leaving his address in case it was never claimed. A week later a note came on a scrape of paper in the post. "Thanks for finding my handbag" and included was a cheque for 6 pounds! Now my dad said he was never expecting a rewarding but to give him a 6 pound reward was just comical. Would have be better off sending nothing. Such a random number

Stabshauptmann

Tasden wrote: »

I volunteer a couple times a week and I deal with alot of people experiencing financial difficulties or just general problems in life. Not alot of people realise the staff are a mix of paid and volunteers so they assume I'm paid to do what I do. One day there was a woman who admittedly was in a difficult situation but there was nothing our service could do to help so I referred her elsewhere. I have been experiencing similar problems to her own myself recently and said to her something like "I'm really sorry I couldn't do more to help, I understand its a difficult situation". She flipped saying things like what would you know, you're probably straight out of school and into a cushy job with no idea what responsibilities are etc. Funny thing was she was actually better off financially than I currently am and had a partner to share her "responsibility" whereas I'm bringing up my child with no support from a partner. But I volunteer my free time to help people in similar circumstances and she didn't appreciate it in the slightest.
Some people are in dire situations and they show such appreciation for any help and they're the ones that make it worthwhile.

The world would be a brighter place with more people like you. Sorry to hear about that particular incident - its some peoples stress release valve to take it out on others.

Cycling Dumbasses

El Guapo! wrote: »

I was just reading through the good deeds thread and it got me thinking about the times when good deeds have backfired or gone horribly wrong on me.

One time, only a few months ago, I was out walking my dog in the park and throwing a tennis ball for him. I was just about to go home when I spotted a kid about 12, on his own with his dog. He was watching me throw the ball back and forth and I noticed he didn't have anything to throw for his own dog.

He looked kinda sad so I walked over and asked him if he wanted my tennis ball. I said he can keep it because I've got loads more at home. He looked freaked out and just said "No" and ran off with his dog.

I was left standing there confused, still holding the tennis ball in my outstretched hand.

It was at that moment I realised I looked like a paedophile.
I mean, what sort of grown man goes around the park offering tennis balls to lonely kids and their dogs?!!

Anyway, as the title says, have you ever had a good deed monumentally backfire?

No offence OP but he prob thought you were a jimmy savile, i presume his parents have warned him of this situation.

Dan Chipowski

Saw a fella in a wheelchair berate a woman in a supermarket once. She made the mistake of asking if he needed help acquiring anything from the top shelves.

Horrible little sh!t. Poor woman was mortified.

Brego888

It's a sad state of affairs when a man can't make even the smallest of kind gestures to a child without being thought of as a paedophile.

Cycling Dumbasses

Brego888 wrote: »

It's a sad state of affairs when a man can't make even the smallest of kind gestures to a child without being thought of as a paedophile.

Thats health and safety for you, always do you risk assessment.

Brego888

Cycling Dumbasses wrote: »

Thats health and safety for you, always do you risk assessment.

Health and safety be damned. It's a sad indictment of our society that any man interacting with kids could possibly be tarred as a paedophile

Femme_Fatale

Brego888 wrote: »

Health and safety be damned. It's a sad indictment of our society that any man interacting with kids could possibly be tarred as a paedophile

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/uk/bijan-ebrahimi-disabled-iranian-who-stood-up-to-vandals-smeared-as-a-paedophile-beaten-up-and-burnt-to-death-29706760.html

Brego888

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/uk/bijan-ebrahimi-disabled-iranian-who-stood-up-to-vandals-smeared-as-a-paedophile-beaten-up-and-burnt-to-death-29706760.html

Absolute madness

Cycling Dumbasses

Brego888 wrote: »

Health and safety be damned. It's a sad indictment of our society that any man interacting with kids could possibly be tarred as a paedophile

You have to live in the real world now not imagination land.

donegal__road

I was in a pub in Toronto and there was a group of us sitting at a table, 6 people or so. I was late joining the crowd by a couple of hours so decided to do the decent thing and buy a round, and I paid cash at the bar for the round. After guzzling my first pint I asked again, did anyone want a drink.. a couple of them said yes and I duely went back up to the bar and bought a few more pints, paid over the counter for the round, and went back to the table and drank the pint.

Seeing as there was no one offering to buy back, I decided to stay on my own and buy at the bar for myself... but at the end of the night, a bill was presented to the table for all the drinks that had been ordered for the 2 hours that preceded me being there.. and when I tried to explain that I had been paying at the bar, no one seemed to understand. I didn't pitch in for the bill, as I had already spent $100 on beer only having had 4 pints myself.... I left the pub looking like a free-loader.

The_Mask

Dan Chipowski wrote: »

Saw a fella in a wheelchair berate a woman in a supermarket once. She made the mistake of asking if he needed help acquiring anything from the top shelves.

Horrible little sh!t. Poor woman was mortified.

Would have been a funnier story if he was a dwarf.

Brego888

Cycling Dumbasses wrote: »

You have to live in the real world now not imagination land.

Nice. I do live in the real world. Unfortunately the real world means I'm less likely in the future to do much of the volunteer work I've previously done with underage football teams and other youth groups that I enjoyed.

pharmaton

Brego888 wrote: »

Nice. I do live in the real world. Unfortunately the real world means I'm less likely in the future to do much of the volunteer work I've previously done with underage football teams and other youth groups that I enjoyed.

as long as you have Garda clearance this shouldn't be an issue, it's a requirement for everybody working with kids. (paid or voluntary)

poundapunnet

My dad and I were sitting outside a café in Galway once, warty nora (well known homeless woman, alcoholic, very aggressive) came up and started with the "would you have the price of a cup of coffee there sir god bless you I'm homeless" and he said he wasn't going to give her money but he'd take her in to the café and buy her a cup of coffee "well fcuk you anyway you bastard"

She's a dose that one, horrible woman.

The_Mask

A friend once stopped to help a broken down motorist whose car battery had died and in his words only because it was late and raining. He jump starts yer mans car with his own jump leads and car, motorist says thanks and drives off, said friend gets back into his own car and turns his ignition only for his battery to be drained.

sammyjo90

Sorry but warty nora is not homeless! she's a mean wan too, used to come into my sisters restaurant demanding free mash potato!

Brego888

pharmaton wrote: »

as long as you have Garda clearance this shouldn't be an issue, it's a requirement for everybody working with kids. (paid or voluntary)

Ah yeah I'm aware of that and I've worked with children as part of my job before. Was just having a chat with a few other males who volunteer with kids recently. Hard to know if it's worth the potential grief and hassle anymore.
Anyway I've taken this thread off topic enough. I'm out.

Maximus Alexander

The_Mask wrote: »

A friend once stopped to help a broken down motorist whose car battery had died and in his words only because it was late and raining. He jump starts yer mans car with his own jump leads and car, motorist says thanks and drives off, said friend gets back into his own car and turns his ignition only for his battery to be drained.

You should tell him that you're supposed to leave the engine running when you jump start a car.

GAAman

Stabshauptmann wrote: »

.

One that annoyed me - a girl on grafton st was shouting at a man to let go of her and leave her alone. In steps mise, "Are you ok". Que her telling me to F off and asking her BF to bash my head in. FFS.

Yeah same vein myself. Walking home after a few hours doing the door and come across a couple having a domestic, and by domestic I mean he was backhanding her like a tennis pro. I intervene and scumbag ends up on his a*se, doth the fair maiden sing my praises? Doth she f*ck

Up she jumps while screaming a scream that would frighten a banshee and proceeds to scratch my face for "going near her fella" so for Christmas 2006 quite a few pictures look like Freddy Krueger went at me in a frenzy

Stinicker

I found a smart phone once before and it was just by chance I found it really and I opened it and read the text messages as there was some girl and her boyfriend from Wexford down in Killarney for the weekend. I was rushing at the time and I rang the number of the mother and explained I had found the phone lost and I'd give it into the Garda Barracks for them to collect, she told me she'd ring the boyfriend to get them to collect it.

I handed it in and left my contact details and they never even texted me or rang to say thanks. I thought it was the most ungrateful flippant thing I'd ever encountered. At the time I had just gotten my iPhone like a week before and you can imagine my eyes when I found this samsung smartphone in the carpark walking back to my car which was around the same price as my own phone over €600.00.

I felt an obligation to get it back to the owner as I had just lost my trusty Nokia like a week before getting my new iPhone and at the time would have preffered not to have had to buy a new phone at all. It was so ungrateful and pure stinge not to ring and say thanks as the phone was put in an envelope with the girls name (acquired from the Mum) and my own contact details and left into the garda station for them which was a 10 minute drive out of my way (opposite direction) to my route home. If the situation was reversed and I was stupid enough to lose my phone I'd make sure to track down the kind person who returned it and shove a few bob into their hand for being honest.

poundapunnet

sammyjo90 wrote: »

Sorry but warty nora is not homeless! she's a mean wan too, used to come into my sisters restaurant demanding free mash potato!

Are you serious?? Didn't think I could like her less, double feck her and her begging/hassling so

Cycling Dumbasses

pharmaton wrote: »

as long as you have Garda clearance this shouldn't be an issue, it's a requirement for everybody working with kids. (paid or voluntary)

Just because one has Garda clearance does not mean one is not a pedophile.

Cycling Dumbasses

The_Mask wrote: »

A friend once stopped to help a broken down motorist whose car battery had died and in his words only because it was late and raining. He jump starts yer mans car with his own jump leads and car, motorist says thanks and drives off, said friend gets back into his own car and turns his ignition only for his battery to be drained.

More imagination

pharmaton

Cycling Dumbasses wrote: »

Just because one has Garda clearance does not mean one is a pedophile.

Do you mean "not a pedophile"?
if so no but for the poster volunteering with kids it shouldn't be something that stops him from doing so, unless he's a pedophile of course.

wandatowell

No.

OhHiMark

Stinicker wrote: »

I found a smart phone once before and it was just by chance I found it really and I opened it and read the text messages as there was some girl and her boyfriend from Wexford down in Killarney for the weekend. I was rushing at the time and I rang the number of the mother and explained I had found the phone lost and I'd give it into the Garda Barracks for them to collect, she told me she'd ring the boyfriend to get them to collect it.

I handed it in and left my contact details and they never even texted me or rang to say thanks. I thought it was the most ungrateful flippant thing I'd ever encountered. At the time I had just gotten my iPhone like a week before and you can imagine my eyes when I found this samsung smartphone in the carpark walking back to my car which was around the same price as my own phone over €600.00.

I felt an obligation to get it back to the owner as I had just lost my trusty Nokia like a week before getting my new iPhone and at the time would have preffered not to have had to buy a new phone at all. It was so ungrateful and pure stinge not to ring and say thanks as the phone was put in an envelope with the girls name (acquired from the Mum) and my own contact details and left into the garda station for them which was a 10 minute drive out of my way (opposite direction) to my route home. If the situation was reversed and I was stupid enough to lose my phone I'd make sure to track down the kind person who returned it and shove a few bob into their hand for being honest.

Sounds like you only did it for the glory.

beks101

Katgurl wrote: »

Yes, I was out with a huge group of friends and friends-of-friends one night. The place emptied out early (school night) except for myself and one friend who were last to leave. As we walked out I noticed an iPhone on the ground. I put it in my bag and went home to bed. The next morning in work I left phone on my desk assuming someone would phone and help solve the puzzle. 'home' flashed up about a half hour later, it was the owner's mother. I answered, explained I had the phone, gave my direct work landline, my name, where i worked and all the rest for her to pass on to the owner.

When my landline rang instead of the gushing thanks I was expecting, I got a very weird onslaught of questioning from a girl who I remembered from the night before saying things like "explain to me very carefully how my phone came to be in your possession". A few minutes later a guy phoned (friend of hers) and asked me a load of similar questions - all very aggressive. The phone rang again and it was my friend (vaguely knew the iPhone owner) saying she had received a call from the lunatic owner basically accusing me of stealing the phone.

I have no idea what she thought - that I stole the phone, then bottled it and decided to return it.

I was so baffled by the whole thing I didn't even have the cop at the time to tell her what an ungrateful c*^t she was.

Ugh God, reading that has really angered me, what a horrible mean old bag. You should have told her "you want your phone back so? Right, you can find it on the ground outside X building, I'm about to fcuk it out the fifth floor window"

On-topic: not really a case of a good deed backfiring, but a bit embarrassing nonetheless - was walking home from work one day and passed a busy restaurant with a group of smartly dressed folk in jovial spirits taking group shots outside. I sauntered passed, turning to the well-dressed photo-taker on the way and insisting that I would take the photo for him so he could get into it. I got a "no no no you're grand" "it's no problem! Sure you hop in!" The whole group sort of awkwardly laughed and he said, "I'm the waiter"

Mint Aero

Was back in WWII, had an oppurtunity to shoot the enemy but decided since he was unarmed that it be nice of me not to shoot him. He was very grateful and off he went. Well the next day however, the sly bugger shot me.

speedboatchase

I gave a homeless man €10 once and he didn't seem to give a ****. Could've gave him €1 and would've got the same ungrateful reaction.

BizzyC

Came across a man passed out on the ground on my way to work during the big freeze a few years ago. People were stepping over him, so I stopped, woke him up.
Turned out he was unable to walk properly, bad leg, so I picked him up and helped him a few hundred yards to the dart station.
Gardai came along to have a look, but just left me struggling to carry this lad.

Got him to the dart, bought him a ticket and then realised my coat stank of piss...he had obviously relieved himself while passed out on the footpath.
I was over an hour late for work cause I had to go home and change.

Esoteric_

When I was 14, I saw a woman in the local shopping center drop 110 euro on the ground. Being a kid, it was bloody tempting to take it, but I picked it up and went after her to give it back.

Tapped her on the shoulder, saying 'excuse me,' with the money held out in my hand. She turned around, and just as I was about to say 'you dropped your money,' she grabbed the money with such force from my hand that her fingernails scratched my hand! Ungrateful bint walked off in a huff. I wasn't expecting a reward, but a 'thank you' would have been nice!

I was rewarded the next day, though, when I found 150 euro in an empty field, with no sign of the person who had dropped it

Starscream25

I swopped cars with my bro for a week so I could take his to a mechanic I knew and as I could do without a car for a week as I was close to work.after using up quarter of the tank I made sure to fill it to the point it was before I took it, the brother gave me back a good bit less than when I left it with him, probably about a tener less.
I bring it up and I automatically get the don't be stingy comments

Starscream25

Esoteric_ wrote: »

When I was 14, I saw a woman in the local shopping center drop 110 euro on the ground. Being a kid, it was bloody tempting to take it, but I picked it up and went after her to give it back.

Tapped her on the shoulder, saying 'excuse me,' with the money held out in my hand. She turned around, and just as I was about to say 'you dropped your money,' she grabbed the money with such force from my hand that her fingernails scratched my hand! Ungrateful bint walked off in a huff. I wasn't expecting a reward, but a 'thank you' would have been nice!

I was rewarded the next day, though, when I found 150 euro in an empty field, with no sign of the person who had dropped it

Jesus what is it with finding money in an empty field, I was talking to a chap yesterday he randomly found 8 50 euro notes in the middle of a field once, but ya some people are right ***** alright.