Bill's Bulletin Board
By Bill Rea

Is chivalry really dead, or has it just been set aside, stored with care and love like other happy relics of the past, waiting for better times.

Just about all of us, from the time we could talk, have been told about the importance of coming to the aid of those in need. We may or may not have heard it from our parents, but we certainly did hear it from our teachers (at least I did). Granted, I went to school in another era, when such stories were permitted in the classroom, but I think the story of the Good Samaritan has been told so many times that most of us must be aware of it.

No matter how we have heard the message of how important it is to help out other people, and no matter how much certain individuals try to practice that, I think each and every one of us have fallen short on more than one occasion.

When I was 18, my parents took my brother and I on a trip to France and England.

While we were exploring Versailles and the surrounding area on a bus tour, my dad spotted a woman on the same tour who was struggling with a stroller and toddler within. He immediately stepped forward to offer a hand, directing my brother and myself to assist too. Fair enough, but it didn't end there. We stuck to this woman like glue, carrying the stroller on and off the bus, lifting it up and down stairs and curbs, etc. This was some years before anyone worried too much about issues like accessibility. Dad even collapsed the stroller and stowed it on the bus for her.

"Have we adopted these people?" I remember selfishly wondering to myself, the way 18-year-olds are often inclined (I wouldn't have dared let my father hear me uttering such thoughts).

Come to think of it, I don't know if the woman even thanked us. We were in a foreign country, so I don't recall finding out for sure if she spoke English.

To this day, I still think my dad went above and beyond the call, perhaps excessively so. I was also a little embarrassed, being drafted into being Boy Scout when everyone else on the tour couldn't have cared less. I also wondered if perhaps this woman might have thought we were going too far. Might she have felt just a bit patronized?

Was my father the type to always step up when he thought someone needed a hand?

While the circumstances were radically different, on that same trip, we twice encountered panhandlers on streets. My father didn't bat an eye.

True, I probably wouldn't have either. I seldom give anything to panhandlers, although there have been a couple of exceptions over the years. I don't know why I sometimes would part with spare change and other times I wouldn't.

I don't believe I lack empathy for other people. I make regular contributions to charities of my choice; all worthy causes.

I did something similar last weekend.

I spent part of the Family Day weekend doing something I very seldom do. I actually took the Saturday and the Sunday off - That's right, no work at all. I wasn't even in the area.

My wife and I spent those two very restful days at a resort property in Muskoka, staying in one of a number of chalets, the use of which we were able to obtain for the period in question.

Just as there was a lot of snow on the ground here, there was a lot more in the north country. We saw a lot of people out doing winter stuff, like snowshoeing, etc. We didn't get involved in anything too strenuous, content to read, and occasionally look out the window.

It was while doing such gazing that Beth spotted a snowmobile being driven across the property.

There is a ditch, a couple of feet deep, running through the property, with a creek in the middle. I guess it was hard to this snowmobiler to spot with all the white stuff on the ground. The upshot was, he and his machine both entered the ditch.

Beth saw it from the window, and mentioned it to me.

The rider of the machine pulled himself out of the ditch and he seemed uninjured, although from his mannerisms, he was clearly not too pleased with himself, or with fate. He tried to pull his snowmobile out of the ditch, without much success.

"He looks like he need a hand," I said, grabbing my coat and boots, and I headed out to perform my good deed for the day.

The man I encountered was pretty much what I was expecting. He was angry and frustrated, largely with himself, and very embarrassed. He and I tried to pull his rig out of the ditch, but we two simply couldn't muster the necessary muscle power.

The man looked around at the other chalets, most of which were occupied and clearly had people inside (we could see TVs on through the windows of many of them) He then muttered something about all these people who must have been aware that he was having problems, yet only one came out to offer assistance.

I eventually called Beth on my cell phone and asked her to call the property manager for some assistance. A man appeared a couple of minutes later, spent a moment or two lecturing the snowmobiler on how he was trespassing, and the gent receiving the admonition replied with the appropriate "I have sinned" expression. Then the three of us pitched in, and got this fellow on his way. His machine did sustain some damage, but all were confident that he would be able to get to his nearby destination.

At the risk of sounding uppity, or like I'm cruising for some kind of medal, I still wonder why I was the only one who went out to render assistance.

I realize there was some danger involved. I didn't know this man, I had no idea if he was armed, fleeing from the authorities, carrying something illicit or in some other way posed a threat. From what I could see, he was just a regular guy who had found himself in a mess and needed some help. I think we have all been in a similar situation from time-to-time, finding ourselves in a jam, maybe of our own making, and requiring the assistance of one or more strangers to get out of it. I would sometimes wonder what right I would have expecting such help, unless I was prepared to render it as required.

In fact, I did require a bit of help later in the week. I was trying to get out of the new mechanized visitor parking lot at the York Region offices in Newmarket. The problem was the ticket I was issued when I had entered the lot wasn't raising the barrier as it should. I was also feeling embarrassment as I realized a line of traffic was forming behind me. I was in a bit of a hurry to get where I was going, and I envisioned the people I was being forced to delay had similar commitments. The man in the car directly behind me realized I was having difficulties, and after a few tries himself, he said he was going into the building to alert security.

While he did that, I walked down the line of vehicles, explaining the situation and what was being done. Some of the people appeared to be inconvenienced, but without exception, they were polite and understanding. As things worked out, we were all on our respective ways in minutes.

A lot of people would not have been so understanding, or would have been as helpful as the man who assisted me.

Would they have gone to assist a snowmobiler in difficulty?