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BajaBlanca
Select Nomad
Posts: 13237
Registered: 10-28-2008
Location: La Bocana, BCS
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THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS
When my mom, sister and brother came to visit us 2 years ago, my brother wanted to surf on the way to La Bocana. So, they decided to hit up
Rosalillita (sp) which none of them had ever been to. They got too close to the water and got major stuck in the sand/water. My sister started to cry
because she thought the ocean was going to eat up her husband's car ...
Some drunks came by - 3 guys - and tried to pull out the car to no avail. They promised to come in the morning and told my sister not to worry (she
did anyways) because the water was at it's highest and was not an issue ...
Some complete strangers came, took mom, my brother and sister into their house, moved their own kids to their aunt's house so my family could each
have a bed, fed them, and in the morning the now-not-drunk guys came back and towed the car out !!
To me, this clearly shows the soul of these wonderful people we share our lives with.
GOT A STORY TO SHARE ????????? good ones only, por favor !! Life is too short for the bad.ones  
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wilderone
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3880
Registered: 2-9-2004
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That time I took my inflatable kayak to camp on Isla Coronado, I had negotiated for the panguero to pick me up at the island 3 days later. But the
gulf was so flat and glassy, and I could see the coast was only 1 mile from the island straight across, that I told him not to come back for me. I
was sure I could paddle to the coast, and then meander down the coast, paddling the 6 miles at my leisure. Well the wind came up. Frothed up some
lumpy seas, and in an inflatable it would have been very difficult for me to tackle a headwind to get to the coast. I couldn't risk the crossing.
There was nobody on the island. There were few fishing boats. I tried to waggle my paddle at one or two, but they never saw me. Finally, one saw
me. He had two fishermen customers, and when he came close enough to understand my problema, told me he'd come at 2 pm to pick me up. So I waited
the 4 hours, and lo and behold - there he was. He packed me and all my gear up and took me back to Loreto. I shouldn't be alive!!!! Ha!!!!
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Paulina
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3812
Registered: 8-31-2002
Location: BCN
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Two great stories. I would love to read more.
P<*)))>{
\"Well behaved women rarely make history.\" Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
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slimshady
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Posts: 291
Registered: 9-3-2008
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How big was the inflatable? I am imagining those two man life rafts you see at sports store? Say it aint so!
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wilderone
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3880
Registered: 2-9-2004
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Yeah - a Sevylor!!
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sanquintinsince73
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Posts: 1495
Registered: 6-8-2010
Location: Los Angeles, CA
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What awesome stories. There is definitely something about Baja Californianos that sets them apart from mainland Mexicanos. There are good people
everywhere but even I've witnessed how Baja people will go out of their way to assist "Gringos" when warranted. The baja spirit is catchy and
eventually even those ex-pats who build their giant walls to hide behind catch it.
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Marita-LosOlivos
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Posts: 20
Registered: 1-11-2009
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I was driving from San Diego to San Quintin with my mom and my infant son when we got a flat tire past Ensenda. There was no one around. My mom
pulled over and we started taking stuff out of the car, so we could jack up the car and change the tire. A man in a small car pulled over and offered
to change the tire for us, we said yes. He changed the tire for us and when he was done my mom offered him some money for his troubles. He refused
the money and he said that helping us out was his good deed of the day. We thanked him greatly for helping and we left.
I have many stories from my days in Baja and none of them are bad. I have had lots of people help out in situations where me and my friends needed
help. There are many kind people here in Baja.
I wish the good stories were put in the paper, tv & internet as often as the bad stories are, then maybe people would not be so frightened of
coming to Baja.
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
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| Quote: | Originally posted by sanquintinsince73
I've witnessed how Baja people will go out of their way to assist "Gringos" when warranted. |
It goes both ways. We don't all just sit around and watch. We do the human thing too. We do our best to help when it's needed.
Gawwwwdammmmm..... I see so many of these stories that sanctify Mexicans on rural roads, stopping to help a "Gringo" in need.
That's wonderful, but does anybody here ever post of the times they give a hand to a Mexican when the time presents itself?
I've done it a hundred times and I will suppose others here have done the same.
It isn't just Mexicans that have a heart. We have one as well and we show that time and time again down here. We do what's required to help when we
are called..........or the situation calls.
Thank the Mexicans for their good will, but thank your brother for the same efforts.
We all mean well.
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lookingandbuying
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Posts: 102
Registered: 3-15-2010
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Getting help- ALL THE TIME!!!
I agree with Dennis. Almost EVERYTIME I go to Baja I have been extended the hand of a nice local, or Gringo!! Being that I use a wheelchair fulltime
It would take pages and pages to detail all the great help that total strangers have given to me while in Baja. Been hoisted up a gazillion stairs,
showed routes around the stairs, been helped with my car...the list goes on and on!
Thanks to all the people that extend a hand when others are in need!!!!
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
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| Quote: | Originally posted by lookingandbuying
Thanks to all the people that extend a hand when others are in need!!!! |
Thanks for that and telling us a bit more about yourself.
Jeeeezoo.......Baja has to be tough for one in a wheelchair. You have my utmost respect.
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lookingandbuying
Nomad
Posts: 102
Registered: 3-15-2010
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4 wheeling in Mexico
It "could" be a tough place for a wheelchair without all the great people that help when needed. The ole chair pretty much is as good as a 4wd when
helped!! 
Mexico reminds me how it used to be in the states circa 1970 or so, but, with all the great people it's like 2050AD in Mexico!
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Bajatripper
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3151
Registered: 3-20-2010
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| Quote: | Originally posted by DENNIS
| Quote: | Originally posted by sanquintinsince73
I've witnessed how Baja people will go out of their way to assist "Gringos" when warranted. |
It goes both ways. We don't all just sit around and watch. We do the human thing too. We do our best to help when it's needed.
Gawwwwdammmmm..... I see so many of these stories that sanctify Mexicans on rural roads, stopping to help a "Gringo" in need.
That's wonderful, but does anybody here ever post of the times they give a hand to a Mexican when the time presents itself?
I've done it a hundred times and I will suppose others here have done the same.
It isn't just Mexicans that have a heart. We have one as well and we show that time and time again down here. We do what's required to help when we
are called..........or the situation calls.
Thank the Mexicans for their good will, but thank your brother for the same efforts.
We all mean well. |
Well said, Dennis. I, too, have helped locals along the road numerous times but have never done it so that I could talk about what a great person I am
later--so I won't share details now either. But I'm with you that it goes both ways.
I have also had good experiences on the mainland, so I'm not so sure that this is something that is restricted to Baja. Once when we (Bajalera, myself
and my son) were travelling by bus in one of the remotest and poorest parts of the Philippines, Bajalera had a wad of bills drop out of her bra onto
the vehicle's floor two times within a couple of hours (must have been losing weight so the fit wasn't as snug as usual, I suppose). Each time it
happened, a different dirt poor fellow passenger picked up the money and returned it to her. She found a different place to stash her loot after the
second time. One finds good--and bad--people everywhere.
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Eli
Super Nomad
Posts: 1471
Registered: 8-26-2003
Location: L.B. Baja Sur
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Mood: Some times Observing, sometimes Oblivious.
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I remember in the 60's crossing the Vizcaíno with my dad and a friend. There was this rough looking character hoofing it down the road. Dad picked him
up even though the guy was toting a pistol. Dad said no one in Baja would ever leave someone stranded on that road in the summer. Of course Dad made
the guy ride on the front bumper where Dad could keep an eye on him, and he dropped him off at the first village we came to.
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Eli
I remember in the 60's crossing the Vizcaíno with my dad and a friend. There was this rough looking character hoofing it down the road. Dad picked him
up even though the guy was toting a pistol. Dad said no one in Baja would ever leave someone stranded on that road in the summer. Of course Dad made
the guy ride on the front bumper where Dad could keep an eye on him, and he dropped him off at the first village we came to. |
Good for your dad, Eli. He was right, although I have to wonder if he would have done the same today for a man with a pistol.
He rode on the front bumper?
Gotta think about that one.
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KurtG
Super Nomad
Posts: 1211
Registered: 1-27-2004
Location: California Central Coast
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Mood: Press On Regardless!!
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| Quote: | Originally posted by DENNIS
| Quote: | Originally posted by Eli
I remember in the 60's crossing the Vizcaíno with my dad and a friend. There was this rough looking character hoofing it down the road. Dad picked him
up even though the guy was toting a pistol. Dad said no one in Baja would ever leave someone stranded on that road in the summer. Of course Dad made
the guy ride on the front bumper where Dad could keep an eye on him, and he dropped him off at the first village we came to. |
Good for your dad, Eli. He was right, although I have to wonder if he would have done the same today for a man with a pistol.
He rode on the front bumper?
Gotta think about that one. |
Well, if it was the front bumper of "Esmeralda Dodge" that was probably a good perch. Huge flat fenders and grillwork to hold on to.
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KurtG
Super Nomad
Posts: 1211
Registered: 1-27-2004
Location: California Central Coast
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Mood: Press On Regardless!!
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| Quote: |
Well said, Dennis. I, too, have helped locals along the road numerous times but have never done it so that I could talk about what a great person I am
later--so I won't share details now either. But I'm with you that it goes both ways.
I have also had good experiences on the mainland, so I'm not so sure that this is something that is restricted to Baja. Once when we (Bajalera, myself
and my son) were travelling by bus in one of the remotest and poorest parts of the Philippines, Bajalera had a wad of bills drop out of her bra onto
the vehicle's floor two times within a couple of hours (must have been losing weight so the fit wasn't as snug as usual, I suppose). Each time it
happened, a different dirt poor fellow passenger picked up the money and returned it to her. She found a different place to stash her loot after the
second time. One finds good--and bad--people everywhere. |
I have always believed in "Baja Kharma." I've aided in changing or repairing many a tire and on those occasions when I was in need of help it always
seemed to appear in the form of a local in an old pickup. I think these traits are often found in people in more remote or poorer areas. I grew up
in a sort of remote area in Northern Minnesota in the '50s where it was very much unthinkable to not stop and offer assistance to someone along the
road. And in wintertime it was totally unthinkable.
In 2002 I had my one and only serious motorcycle crash on the little traveled dirt road east of La Purisima/San Isidro. I literally had just regained
consciousness and figured out that I was in some trouble when a local family in a pickup came along. They got me and the bike loaded up and took me
to the clinic in San Isidro and then by ambulance to Constitution. I had a pretty badly torn up shoulder and broken ribs and probably a concussion.
During this process every Mexican I came in contact with did everything they could to help. The emergency room doctor had his son drive me to their
home so I could call friends in Mulege to pick me up and then put me up for the night in his office. He just left me with the key to the place and
said to lock up in the morning when I left! BTW, the hospital charge was $40.00 and the doctor charged $90.00 and then the son bought me breakfast in
the morning! Locals in San Isidro stored my bike for two months until friends from Mulege could go retrieve it. While it was a painful experience
that required surgery and more than a year of rehab to make my right arm useful again there were some offsetting very positive experiences plus I got
a great story to tell.
Kurt
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Lista
Junior Nomad
Posts: 52
Registered: 5-2-2010
Location: MT
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Mood: (:
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I was north of Gonzaga going over the mountains pulling a trailer, and had gone a mile before I realized the back of the trailer come loose and I had
lost a lot of stuff, ie gas cans, food etc. when I went back for it (a mile is a long way on that road) the campo owner from huerfanito (nacho?) had
picked most of it up and helped me pick up the rest. He could have kept driving and I wouldn't have known the difference. Baja is a wonderful place
full of wonderful people.
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Eli
Super Nomad
Posts: 1471
Registered: 8-26-2003
Location: L.B. Baja Sur
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Mood: Some times Observing, sometimes Oblivious.
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Kurt, it wasn't Esmerelda but an old boarder patrol jeep station wagon, as I recall it did have a pretty good flat bumper to ride though.
Dennis, if he was alive today and it was some place as isolated and hot as the Vizciano was back than, sure Dad would do it again, most likly I would
too.
Dad always, always carried a 5 gallon can of gas and a box of tools when he traveled, just in the off chance that he might run into someone out of gas
or broken down. His perspective was folks had always helped him along his way and he looked for the opportunity to pay back.
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bajafam
Senior Nomad
Posts: 654
Registered: 9-6-2009
Location: Northeast AZ, Bahia Asuncion, BCS :)
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Mood: DLTBGYD
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We have pulled countless folks from the hungry sand in Baja...both Norte and Sur. We have always been offered something for our trouble ~ just last
trip we had a guy try to give us 2 cans of Caracol for pulling him and his family out (we refused). We have also been on the other side, but only on
one or two occasions. I, too, feel the reality of "The Baja Kharma" and know that what comes around goes around...so, we put out something good so
that we will receive the same good if ever needed.
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windgrrl
Super Nomad
Posts: 1336
Registered: 9-2-2006
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Cool topic and an effective antidote to the usual  sturm und drang.
When the way comes to an end, then change. Having changed, you pass through.
~ I-Ching
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