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Tuesday 2 December 2008

'SUV drivers not subhuman' shock

It's difficult to know what's more awful about this article: the headline (which is, of course, the Guardian's rather than the writer's) or the piece itself.

This is the headline:

The good Samaritan - in an SUV

As for the piece:

Driving home from south London, I ran out of petrol on a speed bump. An enormous 4x4 rolled slowly towards me, and I prepared for verbal abuse. "You need a push into a parking space" the blonde driver noted. She squeezed past me, and I presumed she'd driven off, which is what I would have done. But she parked, helped me push my car to a parking bay and, unprompted, drove me to a petrol station.

In the course of our journey, the driver, Helen, said she'd lived in the area for years, before being made redundant. We agreed that being "let go" was always a blessing in disguise. She'd left London, and divorced her bullyboy husband of 15 months, who she felt was about to turn violent. We talked about the long shadow that a destructive relationship casts. She moved to Portsmouth, and at 41 she'd wondered if she'd left it too late to have kids. She sent a card to her first love. They'd dated when she was 19, but he wasn't sure that he as a black man should be going out with a white woman. He was single, called her, and told her that he'd never forgotten her, and they got together. We talked about how crucial it was to meet the right person at the right time. After six weeks she was pregnant. Which brought us to beautiful little Dilly in the back, who called me "lady" and presented her ice cream to me. We returned to my car, Helen waited until I started the engine. I thanked her, and we parted.

Her random act shocked me because it went against the natural order of modern life. It revealed a direct connection: intimacy, not anonymity. She wanted nothing in return for something. Such generous behaviour isn't represented as the norm, or underpinned by daily statistics and reports. I can't remember when I last felt the comfort of strangers, nor when I was last a good Samaritan: giving tourists directions to Harrods is about my limit. 

 "I can't remember when I last felt the comfort of strangers, nor when I was last a good Samaritan:" Do you think that there might just be a connection there?

"Her random act shocked me because it went against the natural order of modern life" So , you're saying you would have never had the idea of stopping and giving a hand if it was the other way around ? Why else would you be shocked ?

well good for Helen, what a pity you've chosen to repay her kindness by revealing the intimate details of her life for the sake of a few column inches. And why is the 4x4, or that she's blonde and has a black partner relevant?

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