Addressing Bill's original point, this is more than just living in a litigious society. Yes, that is part of the problem with no one wanting to lend a hand anymore, but it's also an indictment on society as a whole and how people have changed to think only of themselves and not care or be considerate to those around them.
When I started driving 50 years ago in the Midwest, it was common to see hitchhikers with their thumbs out looking for a ride. And it was common to stop for that stranger and give him or her a lift as far as you were going their direction. Nowadays, you don't know what that stranger might do to you; pull out a gun, a knife, or claim that you tried to harm them, attempting to extort your money.
When I started driving 50 years ago, if you saw a vehicle broke down on the side of the road and you had the time, you stopped to see if there was anything you could do to help, especially if it was a lady, because back then, there were very few women who knew anything about cars and how they ran. Nowadays, no one stops for fear it might be a set up to be robbed.
50 years ago, if you saw a lady that had fallen down and appeared to need help getting up, you stopped and gave aid and offered a ride back to where she came from. If you saw her little dog wandering away, you ran and tried to catch it, if possible, and return it to the lady. Nowadays, people are in too big a hurry to do anything for anyone else. People in today's society only think about themselves and to heck with everyone else. The Me, Me, Me generation has taken over. It's all about me and no one else.
That's why it scares me to think of what would happen if we were ever attacked by our enemies. When we entered WWII, the country banded together for a singular purpose - to defeat the enemy and have peace in the world again. Women who never worked a day of their lives outside the house went to work in factories building airplanes and manufacturing ammunition. Men enlisted to fight and those who couldn't helped the war effort at home by working in a field that would support the military. Everyone pitched in. Everyone knew there would be rationing of food, gas and other important supplies for the war, and they did what they had to do to ensure our country's survival. And they proved to the world that we were the greatest country on the face of the earth.
Would that happen today? Or would most of the American society that now exists say, "It's not my problem. Let somebody else deal with it." This country is so divisive right now, I have actually had someone ask me if I supported the current president before he would help me with a problem with my coach while in an RV park. So if we were attacked by the Chinese or Russians, what do you think would happen? Would we band together again as we did 70 years ago, or would everyone think someone else would handle the problem?
And that is why Bill's wife got no help from anyone passing by. Everyone figured someone else would do it, if the thought even crossed their minds. There is no civility in society anymore and very little chivalry. That is why my wife and I chose to spend our retirement in an RV, because it seems there are still a few people that like to RV that are cut from the old mold and believe in helping others out when they need help. Those who do so are a dying breed.
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