Speaking Of Everything…

DWB: driving with baby!

An article in the Times about a couple ticketed for parking in a “No Standing” zone while trying to feed their baby reminded me of an incident in NYC a long time ago. This situation was vastly different from today’s story, but heck! This is my blog!

Comments on the story were mixed, with a bit of sympathy from parents and “shouldn’t be having children anyway, not with 6 billion people in the world…” from other folks who could care less about feeding a squalling brat!

I dunno, I think the guy writing the ticket could have been a bit more understanding, $115 is $115! and have you ever negotiated mid-town traffic with a crying baby in the car? When my kids were four and five I had an accident trying to get them stop fighting about wet balloons in the back seat… long story.

However, the article reminded me of a situation that confirmed, “No good deed goes unpunished!”

Back in the mid-80s I was walking up 8th Avenue near Madison Square Garden when a man strolling a few yards ahead of me suddenly stumbled and pitched forward. He would have hit the pavement if a guy walking toward him hadn’t grabbed him. I helped ease the gent to the sidewalk; he was in distress and appeared to be suffering a heart attack.

I ran to the phone at the corner and naturally the receiver’s cord had been yanked out of the phone. The man who stopped the guy from falling was kneeling down and holding the stricken man’s hand; it didn’t look good. He was ashen and had lost consciousness. Then a woman pulled to the side of the street, jumped out of her car and began administering CPR. After what seemed like minutes but was most likely faster, the man began to respond, then opened his eyes and began breathing.

The few people, and I do mean FEW, who stopped began to clap and cheer the woman for her efforts. Then someone noticed a DOT brown tow truck had pulled up and was hooking up her car. So I hollered at the driver, “Hey! Don’t take her car! She is saving this man’s life!” The driver looked at me with cold eyes and said, “Ain’t no parking or standing!” and continued to lift her car. I ran over to him and said, “Have a heart, man! That guy would be dead if she hadn’t stopped!” He shook his head and said, “Rules is rules!”

Meanwhile, the guy I helped catch the stricken man came over and joined the argument. Suddenly there was crowd hollering at the tow truck driver. He just kept saying, “Rules is rules!” By then the truck was surrounded by 10-15 people; preventing the driver from leaving the scene. He sat in his truck and yelled, “Rules is rules!” Finally, well I shouldn’t say finally because it wasn’t more than a few minutes, EMS arrived and took over caring for the gentleman on the sidewalk. The woman began pleading with the driver who kept shaking his head. The emotion of the moment was too much for her and she began sobbing, I think she was crying more about what she had just been through than what was going on with her car. Then a police car arrived and I told the cop what was going on; how the woman had jumped out of her car and maybe saved the life of the stranger being treated by EMS. The cop knocked on the driver’s window and told him to let the woman take her car. The driver said, “No!”

That’s when a Channel 2 (WCBS) news crew showed up and began rolling tape. The cop told the driver to unhook the woman’s car and again the driver said no; shouting that, “Rules is rules!” The cop said if the guy didn’t let the woman go he was going to arrest him for inciting a riot. By that time people were chanting and hamming it up for the camera crew. The ill man was already on his way to the hospital. Finally the driver relented and the cop and his partner protected him from the mob as he unhooked the woman’s car and drove away. All in all, about twenty minutes worth of drama.