Who would you help?

[normiss 868]

Seeing a number of people wanting our money lately and hearing some interesting perspectives on who and why certain people would or would not help.
Your thoughts?
Did I miss any? Seems we have all sorts of monetary issues lately.

I am in no way trying to express my desire to help or not nor to upset anyone, just curious of what we're willing to help with.

[piisfish 140]

WHERE IS THE "SHERIFF IS GETTING MARRIED AND NEEDS NEW BOOTS" ??

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[kmfenaughty 0]

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WHERE IS THE "SHERIFF IS GETTING MARRIED AND NEEDS NEW BOOTS" ??

That's under the New Your State Troopers heading .... believe it or not but that charge on all of our phone bills for "911" ... well in New York State that money is being used to buy new uniforms for the State Police !

Don't get me wrong ... I have a friend that work for them and I'm sure they do need new uniforms ... but let's call it what it is

99% of the people on this earth are sheep ... dare to be different

[TrophyHusband 0]

it would depend on how close of a friend it is. if i had a good friend with no insurance who got hurt doing something stupid, i'd still help, but if its someone i don't know, i'm not as likely to help reguardless of the circumstances.

"Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama
www.kjandmegan.com

[cocheese 0]

Good people will get my help. Douche bags don't get it. Let karma do it's job.

[micduran 0]

I could say yes or no to most of the options in the poll depening on how well I knew the person needing the $$.

Be patient with the faults of others; they have to be patient with yours.

[normiss 868]

Excellent answer Michelle, as someone before you stated...I too think there is a large variable that I guess maybe I should have made an answer as well.
Depends on the person, how well I know them, and the situation/incident.

[shropshire 0]

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it would depend on how close of a friend it is. if i had a good friend with no insurance who got hurt doing something stupid, i'd still help, but if its someone i don't know, i'm not as likely to help reguardless of the circumstances.

Yeap, I'd go with that...... adding that I do put money in Natural Disaster Relief boxes (although that is a side issue).

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[kbordson 8]

The answer varies.

In general, I would help.

I've even helped with legal issues of family member that I had to shake my head at them a little for some poor decisions made. I try not to be TOO very judgmental. But sometimes it's hard not to.

I HOPE that all are responsible and plan for problems, but I also realize that can be an unrealistic expectation. Sometimes bad things happen and having some help can make all the difference.

(basically... I verbalize that people should just take care of themselves... but I'm really a softy)

[billvon 3,088]

>The answer varies.

For me as well. Foremost in my decision would be how badly they need the money and how close I am to them. If it was my sister and she had no other recourse I'd do whatever I could. If it was a skydiver I barely knew, and they really needed the money, then it would depend on what the circumstances were. I'd be a lot more tempted to help out an AFF instructor who was almost killed trying to get his student deployed than a packer who was arrested for cocaine possession.

[normiss 868]

The manufacturer situation bothers me a great deal as well...I would be VERY upset to see us lose a major manufacturer due to them being sued because an instructor fucked up and was personally responsible for a student death....and the family goes after the money ONLY.

[kbordson 8]

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The manufacturer situation bothers me a great deal as well...I would be VERY upset to see us lose a major manufacturer due to them being sued because an instructor fucked up and was personally responsible for a student death....and the family goes after the money ONLY.

Unfortunately that's how this culture is going.

Even my own sisters have BOTH filed what I consider frivolous lawsuits in an effort to extort money because they think they "deserve" something.

THAT, I did NOT support and was QUITE verbal about my disgust.

-Not to say there isn't a place for the legal system.... but many the American society seems to be looking at it as the National Lottery.

[JohnMitchell 16]

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The manufacturer situation bothers me a great deal as well...I would be VERY upset to see us lose a major manufacturer due to them being sued because an instructor fucked up

Is this the one where Scott Lutz's parachute fell off? I saw that on TV.

Seriously, is there a(nother) lawsuit against one of our manufacturers right now. Seems to be a non stop occurrence for those guys.

[billvon 3,088]

>I would be VERY upset to see us lose a major manufacturer due to
>them being sued because an instructor fucked up and was personally
>responsible for a student death . . .

We already did. We lost Fliteline to Kat Folger's lawsuit. (Although that was due to her husband's death, not a student's.)

[Thanatos340 1]

There are ways to help all of the people mentioned in the poll beyond just money.

And it does all boil down to how well I knew the person or if organization and any personal connection I had with them. Also a lot would depend on my personal financial situation at the time. In years past throwing a $100 or even a couple $100 to someone that needed help was not a problem. Today, That would be a lot harder to do.

If I have a friend that fucked up and is laying in a hospital bed, I don't think it is my place to refuse to help them simply because they were stupid. Clearly they are already "paying" for their mistake. If it is a friend, I help any way I can because that is what friends do. We all make mistakes, It is your friends that will be there to help you get up after making those mistakes. I would not help them pay medical bills but I would gladly help them buy groceries if needed.

Helping out surviving Families is another thing I will do if I can. Especially the children who will already have to deal growing up without one of their parents. If I have some cash to spare, A little help to offer, I will do so.

[normiss 868]

Strong..the tandem that was NOT harnessed correctly and subsequently fell from the harness on opening.

[MakeItHappen 15]

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Seriously, is there a(nother) lawsuit against one of our manufacturers right now. Seems to be a non stop occurrence for those guys.

Strong Enterprises is still in a lawsuit because of the fuck up of a TI - an uncurrent one at that.

You can donate to their legal defense fund at http://StrongParachutes.com

USPA and the DZO did not help SE's situation either.

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Make It Happen
Parachute History
DiveMaker

[normiss 868]

I like your wording MUCH better than mine!!

[tetra316 0]

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I would not help them pay medical bills but I would gladly help them buy groceries if needed.

Same here.

[airtwardo 7]

Ya help family because it's the right thing to do.

Ya help close friends if you can.

Ya help strangers if they deserve it.


We 'donate' to certain causes every year and help out friends & family when necessary, if possible.

I tend to evaluate the person, people, organization with an eye toward doing the most with whatever I can spare.

For instance the Shriner's do great things and very little of any donation goes to 'administrative' costs.

On the other hand we've been 'helping' an extended family member for years with 'loans' that will never be paid back.

A friend and I bought some air conditioning units and we installed them ourselves last year at a local veterans homeless shelter...because in the big picture we owe those guys 'something'...they deserve it.


Now this may seem harsh to some, but I have a bit of a problem donating to someone that got hurt doing something stupid. They didn't ask me my opinion regarding their actions prior to getting busted up, don't ask me to bail ya out now...unless like I said before...it's family.

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~