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Bruce R Leech
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6796
Registered: 9-20-2004
Location: Ensenada formerly Mulege
Member Is Offline
Mood: A lot cooler than Mulege
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why don't you stop to help someone having car trouble?
why don't you stop to help someone having car trouble?
this is a question that is very hard to answer for most people. and I don't think there is just one answer for most people that I have talked to on
the subject.
Maybe with a Little discussion we can figure it out and come up with some ways that will make it safer for us to offer help to strangers in trouble in
Baja Ca.
I try to stop to talk to people that are indicating that they are in trouble and seeking help most of the time. but there are times that something
inside says don't do it.
there are also things that the person needing help can do to increase there chances of getting it.
I am not going to give any answers yet only questions to provoke thought and discussion on this subject
[Edited on 7-12-2006 by Bruce R Leech]
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
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Osprey
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3694
Registered: 5-23-2004
Location: Baja Ca. Sur
Member Is Offline
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Breakdowns
Once read a wonderful post on the old Vags board. A very nice man with pretty blonde wife (well traveled in Baja) always carried extra gear to help
others and always stopped to aid anyone he saw. Then HE brokedown! Dozens of cars passed him by even though he tried to hail them down. Finally put
his pretty wife on the road. A Mexican family stopped, pulled him to the next town, the guy's cousin took a part off his own truck, got them started
again. Then our gringo said "I'll still stop and help anyone I see but they're gonna have to listen to my story first".
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Diver
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4729
Registered: 11-15-2004
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Stuck with a fouled boat motor, I tried to hitch about 4 miles to El Requeson last February around noon. Of course, I was passed by all manner of
gringos and finally picked up by a smiling local gentleman; he was only the second mexican that passed after more than 20 gringos.
I think it's all about your personal level of comfort. Whereas I will stop to help a family anytime, anywhere; and I will always stop for someone who
is obviously in need of immediate attention, but I normally won't stop for a carload of men while my wife and kids are in the car.
Unfortunately, I think many travelers are afraid of people they don't know or folks from different places/backgrounds and/or would rather not take a
chance. After picking up a few Federale kids returning to camp from home, and after stopping to pull a family of 9 in a Pontiac Grand Am out of the
sand, I can tell you that there are great experiences to be had picking up the right hitch-hikers.
Back in the 60's we'd stop for damn near anyone.
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Diver
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4729
Registered: 11-15-2004
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Another note;
The local that picked me up on the way to El Requeson immediately tried his english on me and also probed for my level of spanish comprehension. He
wanted to talk. He wanted to learn about me. He wanted to expand his knowledge. He wanted to be friends.
We shook hands and locked eyes when I left.
Pretty strange things these mexicans do, eh ??
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jimgrms
Senior Nomad
Posts: 664
Registered: 9-30-2005
Location: oceanside ca
Member Is Offline
Mood: its always good
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[Edited on 7-12-2006 by jimgrms]
i will stop for familys and if i have room give people a lift i don,t stop for carloads of young men if i think something is wrong about the scenario
, and don,t nite drive
[Edited on 7-12-2006 by jimgrms]
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Diver
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4729
Registered: 11-15-2004
Member Is Offline
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Need to address that stuttering issue, Jim ! 
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Bruce R Leech
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6796
Registered: 9-20-2004
Location: Ensenada formerly Mulege
Member Is Offline
Mood: A lot cooler than Mulege
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I have some times when in doubt of a situation stooped well back of the ones reacquiring help and started a conversation to See what was up.
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
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Bruce R Leech
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6796
Registered: 9-20-2004
Location: Ensenada formerly Mulege
Member Is Offline
Mood: A lot cooler than Mulege
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one time while coming down I polled over on a wide turn off to stretch my legs. while out doing laps around my truck and kicking tires etc. a man
walked up to me from another care parked about 100 feet in front of mine. he told me that he had been there a day and a half and no one had stooped to
help him. after studying the situation for a while I told the man that he really needed to do something to make it look like he was in trouble and
needed help. just raising your hood helps some although it is not enough because every one I know raises their hood to let Hewet out and check the
engine while taking a rest stop.
can some of you give this man some suggestions of what things he can do to make his plight known to people passing by at 80 miles an hour.
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
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longlegsinlapaz
Super Nomad
Posts: 1685
Registered: 11-18-2005
Location: La Paz
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I DO stop & help....regardless of nationality! I guess I've been lucky to always have someone with me, even if it's only myself & my female
Mexican friend. I speak muy mala Espanol! But a potential language barrier doesn't seem a valid reason to me to leave anyone stranded! I'm damn
good at mime! I probably would think twice if I was alone, depending on the situation. I've helped an ancient man & his grandson with a flat
tire. They didn't have a jack & their donut spare was really low, so I used my compressor to air it up. They had a trunk full of fresh produce
& insisted I take some to show their appreciation. This was on the road to Cabo and there was quite a bit of traffic that had just blown past
them & their plight!
I've pulled out many, many cars stuck in sand! My only problem is making sure they & all the kids all stand well back from the chain in case it
breaks; as it has in the past!! One guy was insistant that I pull him from the back....which just happened to be buried over the rear bumper, while
the front end was only buried to the axel/mid hub! Pulling him out the way he wanted me to would have been like pulling the earth off it's axis! It
flat wouldn't have worked!! I think his logic was that he'd just missed his turnoff to the packed road to the beach & ended up in really deep
soft sand, so if I pulled him out backwards, the front of his car would be on solid ground & headed where he wanted to go!! I was just as
insistent that I pull him out via the path of least resistance!! I won! It was MY car & MY chain doing the work!  The chain had the courtesy to wait until he was on solid ground before it
broke!!
So far, I haven't encountered a situation where my gut told me to just keep going, and I hope it never does!!
I live on the beach road, so it's common for people who get stuck in the beach sand to come to my gate when they see the 4 WD vehicle sitting out
front....at ALL hours!  I've loaned out shovels if they feel they can dig
themselves out & the next morning, the shovel was inside the wall next to the gate. So all my experiences, thus far, have been positive!
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Eli
Super Nomad
Posts: 1471
Registered: 8-26-2003
Location: L.B. Baja Sur
Member Is Offline
Mood: Some times Observing, sometimes Oblivious.
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I remember my Dad always carried extra gasoline in a gerry can just in case he might run into ANYONE that needed it.
He ALWAYS stopped to help, he was a great mechanic and a good hearted man.
I am not so kind, might be able to offer someone a ride to the next town, but mechanical I am not, in the least, so no, I generally do not stop.
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Barry A.
Select Nomad
Posts: 10007
Registered: 11-30-2003
Location: Redding, Northern CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: optimistic
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i agree with DIVER on this one.
-----once off Punta Chivato with my wife and grown son, in my 14' Gregor with a 15hp Johnson, the engine loaded up and I could not start
it------(turned out to be a carburator that flooded constantly---a deffinite malfunction). Many many gringos in boats passed me up without even
slowing down, but soon a panga came along with a lone Mexicano and pulled me back to our Punta Chivato beach camp, a distance of probably 8 miles.
This was 180 degrees from the way he was traveling, putting him at least 16 miles off course. He refused any dinero, but finally excepted me filling
his gas tank (about 10 gals.). He was a jovial fellow, and seemed to truly enjoy helping us out.
I have had many folks, both Gringos and Mexicanos, stop along the road to ask if I needed anything----especially on dirt roads---------it was a "way
of life" in Baja for many years, and I think, still is.
I have totally lost count of how many folks I have pulled out of the sand----------litterally dozens. I have never broken a chain, tho----------that
is really spooky, and I am sure hard on windshields, not to mention nearby folks legs, etc.. An old sleeping bag, or even another loose chain drooped
over the towing chain would help dampen the whiplash of a breaking tow chain, I understand. Personally I use the Nylon rope (1 inch) slingshot
method, and seldom use chain. For motorhomes, I have a 2 inch diameter nylon rope----works great.
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wilderone
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3871
Registered: 2-9-2004
Member Is Offline
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I always help if I can. I have helped and been helped. It's an unwritten Baja traveler code.
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SiReNiTa
Special Correspondent
Posts: 881
Registered: 5-5-2006
Location: Ensenada, B.C.S.
Member Is Offline
Mood: Savoring life while saving the world!
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Diver
Of course, I was passed by all manner of gringos and finally picked up by a smiling local gentleman; he was only the second mexican that passed after
more than 20 gringos.
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what goes around comes around and that is all i can say....we ussualy stop but if it's just me and my mom in the car and there is nothing we can do
well...we stop and tell them just so they do not think we do not want to help...
Live life as well as you can,
don\'t regret the things that once made you smile,
learn from your mistakes,
and thank God for every second he gives you upon this earth.
Visit me at
Http://BajaScents.Scentsy.com.mx
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vgabndo
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3461
Registered: 12-8-2003
Location: Mt. Shasta, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Checking-off my bucket list.
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I agree that every case is a little different.
Please forgive a "little story".
In about '71, my Bug broke down a little north of El Topo going home from Laguna Hansen. We had been there over night when two locals stopped to help.
One guy was on a schedule, so he left his friend and went on. The friend, who ultimately couldn't help, and who apparently was a former lawman, turned
out to be packing an old .38 revolver.
He had been telling me I needed to carry a gun for just such circumstances, and still had it in his hand when an old gringo couple pulled up and
stopped. He asked them for a ride to the highway, and they agreed.
In parting, he hoisted his "hog leg" into visibility, and said: "Now remember what I told you", and pulled open their door. The look on their faces
was something I've not forgotten.
This kind, generous, man had gone WAY out of his way to be helpful. He just happened to be a Mexican with a gun on a dirt road in the middle of
nowhere.
Those were the days!
Undoubtedly, there are people who cannot afford to give the anchor of sanity even the slightest tug. Sam Harris
"The situation is far too dire for pessimism."
Bill Kauth
Carl Sagan said, "We are a way for the cosmos to know itself."
PEACE, LOVE AND FISH TACOS
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Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8963
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
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 I pulled a minivan with an entire family inside from San Matias Pass
*into* downtown San Felipe, and we parked the family (small kids included) at the Pemex Station all safe and sound.
The Militarios just waved us through - no stopping, etc.
...Such a heart-warming experience...
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Bruce R Leech
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6796
Registered: 9-20-2004
Location: Ensenada formerly Mulege
Member Is Offline
Mood: A lot cooler than Mulege
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I would think that when I brake down if I make a sign or something saying what I need and put it out where everyone can see it it might help to get
some one to stop.
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
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Cypress
Elite Nomad
Posts: 7641
Registered: 3-12-2006
Location: on the bayou
Member Is Offline
Mood: undecided
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Helping a fellow traveler.
It all boils down to good judgement. Beware? Help? Talking about common sense.
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Sharksbaja
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5814
Registered: 9-7-2004
Location: Newport, Mulege B.C.S.
Member Is Offline
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Judgement call
I'd like to know how many have been accosted , robbed or otherwise bothered or menaced by strangers in Baja. Appearances can be deceiving. Just like
the type of car you are driving. A beat-up old van with a dark interior with obvious others inside surely is more threatening and intimdating than a
mini-van with four kids hanging out the window.
DON\'T SQUINT! Give yer eyes a break!
Try holding down [control] key and toggle the [+ and -] keys
Viva Mulege!
Nomads\' Sunsets
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Eli
Super Nomad
Posts: 1471
Registered: 8-26-2003
Location: L.B. Baja Sur
Member Is Offline
Mood: Some times Observing, sometimes Oblivious.
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You know, I reflected and I need to qualify, I have and would most likly stop anytime day or night on an isolated dirt road. The highway, well, like I
said, most likly not, I think there is more qualified help available out there. Thank heavens for the Green Angeles.
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pappy
Senior Nomad
Posts: 679
Registered: 12-10-2003
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have been on both sides-the helper or helpee.on dirt roads i always help, but like many here, when on the pavement i tend to be a little more cautious
as of late(not so in the past).if the vibe /scenario seems a little off i'll push on.
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