Re: A Way Of Life

Kevin,

You raise some interesting issues in you post about the potential
concerns arising from having simply done something to help some young
men who would otherwise at the very least have been cold, wet and
miserable.

I would begin by stating that as far as I am concerned, you did the right
thing, and I would almost certainly have done the same in a similar
situation.

Having said that, however, it is a sad fact of today's world that what is
the morally right thing to do is all too often misinterpreted at best or
sometimes (at worst) twisted into something unpleasant by those of
questionable motives purely out of malicious efforts for personal gain or
to discredit another. The unfortunate fact is that your friend was totally
correct in saying that the situation was potentially damaging. This in no
way makes your actions wrong, but the simple fact is that in today's world
we often have to accept that even when we do the right thing with the best
of intentions we may eventually pay a penalty for doing so. I was stunned
when doing first aid training to hear mentioned as an aside that from a
legal point of view, there are times when you may be better off to not
attempt to assist someone and allow them to die rather than to attempt to
save them and later be sued for your trouble!

In summary, I believe you did the right thing, and congratulations for
doing so. Unfortunately that is small comfort if repercussions were to
come out of such an incident, and then it is sad to say that you would be
on your own, my friend...

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