Driving Strangers to location you don't have to go to, just to be nice

kerry4sam

Just this very morning en route to my Late Loving Dads' grave I saw these two young people looking for a drive to Killorglin from Killarney, just standing there in the rain looking forlorn.

I drove past (not going to Killorglin) and went to Dads' grave. Just there something inside me just said 'turn around the drive them'. Never before have I done a quick turnabout a Dad's grave, always stay a lickle while and reflect, aside from today.

Drove back the 5mins to where they were and still there standing in the rain just before 10am. I drove them the 25mins there and drove myself back again to Killarney.
Lovely couple and I informed them of puck fair. They asked if that's why I was going to Killorglin, but once informed I have no business in Killorglin today, actually have to be back in Killarney for my hair appointment at 11am, they just gasped! Shocked but their eyes just lit up

He said very few people in Poland would do such a positive random kindness act and asked if it were common here but I didn't know how common such an act is in Ireland.

Just a general query:
Have you ever done anything similar for complete strangers, just to do a Random Act of Kindness for someone and help them on their journey

Thanks,
kerry4sam

Wise Old Elf

Very nice of you Kerry4sam.
My father in law is from Kerry and would do this at the drop of a hat!

I'm less inclined to do this, but a good few months ago, I popped up to the shop for something, and when i parked, spotted a chap and his family stranded in his car, conked out and it wouldn't start again. Turns out he was out of juice, so I drove him back to his place to get a can, on to the petrol station, then back to his conked out car. Was far from the longer journey you undertook, but still, felt good to help someone out.

biko

I do pick up hitch-hikers and I will drop them anywhere in city. But no, I have not gone to another town like you did.
Fair play but quite unusual I would think.

efb

K4s may your generosity be rewarded fourfold

MarkR

Did something similar on the way home from hospital. Wife was staying overnight after birth of our son, and I was on the way home to an empty house. Heading from Limerick to Shannon, and I had pulled in to answer a text. As I was pulling out, my lights picked up an old guy hitching. Wouldn't have seen him if I hadn't pulled in. No chance anyone else was going to (no lights in area). Drove him to Ennis and found the house he was looking for. (He thought it was near a fountain and a garage - little vague!)

OrangeVarnish

You should check out the festival in Clonakilty Co Cork about Random Acts of Kindness ! Its great!

Moneymaker

Fair play to ya.

The only hitchhiker i've seen was a guy thumbing right at the sliproad out of Portlaoise onto the motorway back to Dublin.

I'm serious too. Lunatic.

ba_barabus

Not a hitchhiker, but I was on my way to a job interview when I pulled into Mayfair in Kildare to get a bottle of water. Q a man pulling up beside me with his hugely embarrassed looking son in the car. He had no petrol and no money so I said given the day that was in it some good karma would be useful. I passed him a 20 which at the time was a large part of my dwindling money but decided the luck I'd have would be better. Anyway after a big thank you he pulled around to the pumps, continued driving around and gave me a big thumbs up as he headed off without filling. I just continued on my way and didn't get pissed off as I decided if he was that hard up he had to ask for it he probably needed it anyway.7

You'll all probably tell me it's a well known scam.

kingtut

I didn't drive a stranger to a place I wasn't going however I did give up my seat (I had a guaranteed one) on an overbooked flight to an elderly woman who looked distressed at not being able to get on the flight.

I asked checkin woman if I could give up my seat and give it to the elderly woman, she said yes so I did just that and got the next flight (about 2 hours later)

Jesus.

Fukk's sake, he drove someone down the road, he didn't give them his bleedin' kidneys!

(No offence Kerry )

keithclancy

I offer the same when I'm passing bus stops with no shelter

Turned out one time they were going to Dusseldorf and they were delighted since it cut almost 2 hours off their Journey

keithclancy

ba_barabus wrote: »

Not a hitchhiker, but I was on my way to a job interview when I pulled into Mayfair in Kildare to get a bottle of water. Q a man pulling up beside me with his hugely embarrassed looking son in the car. He had no petrol and no money so I said given the day that was in it some good karma would be useful. I passed him a 20 which at the time was a large part of my dwindling money but decided the luck I'd have would be better. Anyway after a big thank you he pulled around to the pumps, continued driving around and gave me a big thumbs up as he headed off without filling. I just continued on my way and didn't get pissed off as I decided if he was that hard up he had to ask for it he probably needed it anyway.7

You'll all probably tell me it's a well known scam.

Maybe, maybe not.

I had a fellow pull me over on the Autobahn outside berlin and offer me gold for cash to pay for his wife and himself to get to England.

He was turkish driving with UK plates.

I declined and told him to fock off or I was calling the police :pac::pac:;)

Found out later it was a well known scam.

the culture of deference

I was out for a dog walk on the sallins canal, I had walked miles away from my car and was too tired to walk back. I asked a man in a van coming out a driveway if he had a local taxi number and I found out I was in robertstown, he gave me a lift back to the car with my dog on my lap.

It was great, I keep meaning to pass on the favour.

Last month I dropped family to the airport and when I was driving back out past the petrol station there was a couple with a Galway sign. I was in the wrong lane to stop but I was going part of the way they were.

daveohdave

Were you looking for a medal or just the ego stroke OP?

jimgoose

In 25 years and half-a-million miles, I've never left a marine at the side of the road. And I never will.

rosiem

Fair play to you Op I wouldn't pick up strangers due to being a lone female, but I love the pay it forward idea. My own mother died in January and was a most caring and loving person and would go out of her way to help people. Since her passing I make far more of an effort to do things I normally wouldn't have bothered, its a way for me to keep her spirit alive and I think (hope) has made me a better person.

blastman

Jesus. wrote: »

Fukk's sake, he drove someone down the road, he didn't give them his bleedin' kidneys!

(No offence Kerry )

daveohdave wrote: »

Were you looking for a medal or just the ego stroke OP?

Since the OP mentioned going for a hair appointment, I would guess he is a she.

You pair are just a delight, ain'tcha?

coolbeans

Jesus. wrote: »

Fukk's sake, he drove someone down the road, he didn't give them his bleedin' kidneys!

(No offence Kerry )

' Just to be nice' as the thread title said. You should try it.

Jesus.

coolbeans wrote: »

' Just to be nice' as the thread title said. You should try it.

Quite.

I know I'm the Christian son of God so maybe I shouldn't be saying this because it dilutes my Divinity somewhat, but there's an auld Buddhist teaching that instructs those who do good works to resist the urge to tell people. - To tell absolutely no-one. - And only then will you reap the rewards of your charitable deed.

The OP has succumbed to this temptation and so his (her?) benefits will simply consist of a bunch of bullshi*ting, internet-obsessed Motorheads giving her a pat on the back instead of something that could have been immeasurably more powerful.

If (s)he is content with such trivial accolades then all's well and good.

But its one hell of a surrender to the temptations of the ego when you contemplate what's on offer otherwise...

galah

Ireland is (was?) brilliant for hitch hiking, people here are absolutely amazing, going out of their way to give other people lifts. I used to be a tourist before I moved here many moons ago, and we used to hitch hike a lot, and the amount of people who didnt just get you from A to B but took little detours to show us foreigners bits of their country was astounding. Got to see hidden castles, stayed with poets, went from cork to portadown in one go just for the craic, got to see amazing landscapes on those back roads only locals know...

lazeedaisy

Surprised by some replies,

I would never hesitate to stop, despite being female, I have a car and can drive, two prerequisites needed to help out people.

Regularly go out of my way, always in the rain,

If I am going in the general direction, why not

I don't do it to be nice,

I do it because I can

Toyotafanboi

personally, i am always fearful of hitch hikers, not the kind with the backpack and the sign who are travelling, but when you see a pretty average looking guy. you have to wonder how he has become so dislocated on a single day that he has no car or bicycle, no money for a bus or a taxi and not a friend he can call to bring him to his destination but yet he has to be somewhere so urgently he has to resort to thumbing.

however, one time when i was a young lad, myself and a few buddies were hiking the wicklow way and we were on some ****ty backroad somewhere between laragh village and lough dan. it was pouring with with rain and had been all weekend. we were all kitted out in our waterproofs but it was still unpleasant.

there was a fella in an auld van heading towards us and when he passed us on the road he must have felt bad and he done a u-turn. asks us where we are heading and then says jump in the back of the van (we were way too wet to get into the cabin :P) and drives us the whole way there. then just heads off again in the direction we originally met him.

what a kind soul. our destination was several hours off, but only took a few minutes in the van. really lifted the moral for the rest of the trip as the weather wasn't predicted to be anything like that or we wouldn't have set off.

enumbers

always stop and pick up people when I can, eastern European colleagues have told me that in there home countries (Poland, Romania and Hungary) people pick up hitch-hikers but generally do it as they expect to get paid was really surprised by this not something that ever entered my head always picked up people to help out and normally get a bit of entertainment

ba_barabus

Hitch hiking stopped after a 2 kidnappings and killings back in the 90's. I still remember them. A pity, but it was dangerous.

rosiem

lazeedaisy wrote: »

Surprised by some replies,

I would never hesitate to stop, despite being female, I have a car and can drive, two prerequisites needed to help out people.

You don't see any danger picking up strangers as a lone female ??

darragh o meara

Haven't done it in years, but the last time was during a particularly bad flooding period. I was on my way home and came on a pretty bad flood on the road ( lapping up on the widscreen of my 4x4 Pajero bad ) Anyway on clearing the flood I seen a guy in a 2 week old Merc M Class,also a 4x4.. he had chanced it from the other side but chickened out and tried to reverse and thus filling his engine full of water. As they were stuck, I got out the tow rope and pulled them out. After a bit of a chat he told me that the tow truck couldn't get to him until the floods receeded and asked if I knew of any taxi that might be able to get him to town or home. As it was a remote area and also knowing there wasn't a hope of him getting a taxi, I offered to bring him and his wife to my own village which was on the way to his place but when I got there I decided to drop him home altogether. Got to the house and he tried to give me money and I wouldn't take it, poor load had enough to be worrying about.

Cue a few days later and I get home to find a birthday card hand delivered with just my first name on the front, inside was 150 quid and a thank you note, no name or nothing( and it wasn't even my birthday:) )

Met him a few recently in a pub and he told me he had to drive around the houses in the village for ages to fund my house , using my jeep as his only reference.

Just goes to show, what comes around goes around.

georgefalls

I picked up two young ladies. Drove them some 60 odd miles, and in that time they ate all my sandwiches and drank my flask of tea.
I didn't mind though, they were gorgeous..!

pred racer

yes I have done this before.
always pick up hitchikers if i can.

daveohdave

I only pick them up if they're not too far from my kill room.

coolbeans

Jesus. wrote: »

Quite.

I know I'm the Christian son of God so maybe I shouldn't be saying this because it dilutes my Divinity somewhat, but there's an auld Buddhist teaching that instructs those who do good works to resist the urge to tell people. - To tell absolutely no-one. - And only then will you reap the rewards of your charitable deed.

The OP has succumbed to this temptation and so his (her?) benefits will simply consist of a bunch of bullshi*ting, internet-obsessed Motorheads giving her a pat on the back instead of something that could have been immeasurably more powerful.

If (s)he is content with such trivial accolades then all's well and good.

But its one hell of a surrender to the temptations of the ego when you contemplate what's on offer otherwise...

Jaysus, another tired old Jésus gag. Nobody saw that one coming I'm sure.

lazeedaisy

rosiem wrote: »

lazeedaisy wrote: »

Surprised by some replies,

I would never hesitate to stop, despite being female, I have a car and can drive, two prerequisites needed to help out people.

You don't see any danger picking up strangers as a lone female ??

It would never bother me, it's usually people stuck. There is not much of a bus service where I live, and is male and females looking for lifts,

It's different in rural Ireland, a lot of people rely on lifts, due to hours between the buses, no early services,

They are someone's son or daughter, would never think otherwise,

mfceiling

Funny OP my recent one was in Kerry as well.

Left Ballinskelligs for the chocolate factory in Finian's bay...saw 2 hitch hikers standing on the side of the road looking forlorn. They were thumbing in the wrong direction (looking to go to Cahirseeven but facing for Finian's bay). I drove past about 30 metres, then reversed back, helped them with their bags and turned the car around and took them to Cahirseeven....sometimes it's nice to be nice!!

Plus the fact that they were 2 mid 20 German girls and were very attractive!!

MugMugs

mfceiling wrote: »

Plus the fact that they were 2 mid 20 German girls and were very attractive!!

And it took you 30 Metres to stop ! :eek:

For the love of god man ! !!!!

mfceiling

MugMugs wrote: »

And it took you 30 Metres to stop ! :eek:

For the love of god man ! !!!!

Poor brakes on the car...;)