Reader report: Kudos for ‘great kids’ who came to the rescue

Often the first-hand raves (or rants) surface in the WSB Forums – but the past few days have yielded a couple of gems to share here in the news section. The latest is from Laurie:

I wanted to share a heart warming story about what my mom experienced (Tuesday).

She was heading to Safeway to get her groceries around 1 o’clock when her car stalled in the intersection by Jack in the Box on Admiral. She tried and tried to get it to start again while enduring all the rude people blowing their horns at her.

She couldn’t get it to start so she got out of the car and started to try and push it out of the way…really…she’s 80 years old!

While trying with no success but the horns were still blowing from the trucks and cars that were held up…NOT ONE ADULT got out of their car to help her…then her Heart filled with warmth..she heard voices shouting in the distance “don’t worry lady, we will help you”; out of Jack in the Box came about 10 high school girls and boys and pushed her car into Safeway parking lot for her.

My mom couldn’t thank these kids enough. Just as quick as they appeared, they left, I suppose their lunch was still waiting on the table for them.

Mom called West Seattle High School and shared her story and wanted to try and relay a message to the unknown Angels that she has a renewed faith in our youth of today and is and will always be very grateful to these young people.

I’m hoping the parents of any of these Angels are followers of WS Blog and will know that they are raising great kids. Happy Holidays to All.

cj December 13, 2012 (1:43 am)

Wow great kids! I see a lot of clean cut professional looking people around here who act like total jerks in their cars. Goes to show ya , nice duds don’t make a nice person. Way to show them how to be kids.

Ajax December 13, 2012 (2:49 am)

The intersections at California/Admiral and 42nd/Admiral regularly have bad behavior from drivers, but how disgusting that no one would help this elderly lady. Do these people not have mothers or grandmothers? I’m the first to call out bad behavior from kids in our neighborhood so let me be the second (here) to say good going to these kids who did what adults should have done. And also, good going to their parents.

greg December 13, 2012 (3:06 am)

Pay it Forward

humblepie December 13, 2012 (3:39 am)

Good kids! You are right Ajax when you say good going to their parents. Youth guided by good parenting.

RoomWithAView December 13, 2012 (5:01 am)

Selfish, rude bordering on sociopathic behavior from motorists. What a surprise, in a culture that treats driving as the most important thing above all else, at the sacrifice of tens of thousands of lives annually as well as ruining air quality and burying city and countryside under a coating of pavement and asphalt. As they say, you get what you pay for.

Faith4 December 13, 2012 (5:16 am)

Thank you to these young people. This brought tears to my eyes reading this. People seem quick to blame young people for things & yet here is this wonderful group of young people coming to the rescue. It is so hard to understand why no adults helped this senior. Many thanks to the young people who showed compassion & thoughtfulness.

Dee December 13, 2012 (5:29 am)

Go Wildcats!!

ME December 13, 2012 (5:49 am)

Merry Christmas! What a wonderful group of kids! Warms my heart.

WD December 13, 2012 (6:34 am)

Great Story! We really do have wonderful kids in West Seattle and they deserve a lot of kudos from us.

Rick December 13, 2012 (6:46 am)

I’m feeling shame and embarrassment for the “adults” on this one. Go young’uns!

Hey lady December 13, 2012 (7:34 am)

Good job, kids! The adult behavior is interesting to say the least. I was fascinated by the recent story in NYC where no one jumped to helped the man on the subway tracks. There was an analysis of how human programming for survival may have prevented people from jumping into rescue mode. I have not lost faith in humanity but I won’t complain about the HS lunch crowd in Admiral anymore! God bless your mom, Laurie!

Mike December 13, 2012 (7:38 am)

That’s awesome to hear. With everything you hear about kids doing wrong, it’s great to hear a story like this and know we live in an area with some honest and good kids around. This story made my day happy!

G December 13, 2012 (7:39 am)

Had the same experience in the Admiral district at an intersection. Some high school guys jumped in and helped push me to a safe spot.

Lots of good kids out there.

Wednesday December 13, 2012 (7:40 am)

Now that’s doing something!! Way to get-er done kids!

shirley December 13, 2012 (7:49 am)

For those blowing their horns, shame on you! Find the lesson in this and next time consider perhaps this annoying car in your way is not sitting in their car having a picnic blocking traffic just to irritate “you”. It’s not always about you….

Kudo’s to the youngsters!

Norma December 13, 2012 (7:51 am)

And the young shall lead the way.

AM December 13, 2012 (9:07 am)

It’s so nice to hear about the high schoolers doing good instead of evil on their lunch break! Way to go!!

Seriously? December 13, 2012 (9:32 am)

Nice job, you guys. Class act!!!

miws December 13, 2012 (9:41 am)

What a great story! Huge kudos to these kids!

I hope that at least one of those so called adults that were blowing their horns felt at least a little humility and shame after seeing those kida jump into action!

Also, how nice of “Mom” to call the school. That should result in a nice announcement from the Principal, at the next Assembly!

Mike

a December 13, 2012 (10:06 am)

Sealth students would not have done this. Go Indians!!!

Happy in WS December 13, 2012 (10:28 am)

I would hope that we all start paying forward good deeds,it dosn’t take long to help with a door or carry a package (don’t take).
why not start here.
Hey “a”, you dated yourself with your “Go Indians”. Wildcats doesn’t work for me either.

Alki Resident December 13, 2012 (10:30 am)

Laurie,
It might be a kick to write a short thank you letter and post it in Jack in the Box so those kids will have that feel good moment and acknowledgement. Not everyone reads the blog.
Im so proud of these kids and had chills reading your story. I am dumbfounded how nobody stopped to help. Please tell her Merry Christmas.

Alki Resident December 13, 2012 (10:32 am)

@ A- I know for a fact Sealth has some great kids coming out of that school and always has. Please don’t insult people you obviously know nothing about. This didn’t happen remotely close to Sealth, so who are you to say?

WS expat December 13, 2012 (10:43 am)

Thanks, Laurie and WSB, for a heartwarming early Christmas present we can all enjoy. Laurie’s mom sounds like a classy and very spunky lady. The parents of the students who came to her rescue should be very proud of their offspring.
(And to the despicable drivers who leaned on their horns while an elderly lady tried to push her car (!), you must have been raised by Gila monsters. May all of you have four flat tires at once in the middle of I-5 at rush hour on a Friday. )

WS rats in a cage December 13, 2012 (10:47 am)

Thanks for sharing.

plf December 13, 2012 (10:49 am)

This was heart warming to see our young adults acting in such a kind way…their parent should be proud and shame of those “adults” who just honked their horn (come on does anyone sit in an intersection with a non working car because they want to) Hoping those kids see the blog and those who acted like bratty children see as well and learn from the lesson…

datamuse December 13, 2012 (11:15 am)

I work at a college and am constantly impressed by how thoughtful, committed, and smart the kids are. I don’t know where the idea that the current generation of teens/early 20s is disengaged and cynical came from–I thought that was supposed to be MY generation! ;)
.
The kids are all right.

Graysongirl December 13, 2012 (12:25 pm)

I have teenagers and I think they and their friends are awesome. I’m not surprised by this act of kindness from our WS teens :)

CJ December 13, 2012 (12:48 pm)

That brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for letting us all know about the good things that happen in our community and thank you kids for leading by example!

C.S.D. December 13, 2012 (12:55 pm)

Great story! I’ve also been impressed by some of the highschoolers in the area. Two nice young men gave up their seats on the bus to me and two preschoolers when we boarded the bus in front of W. Seattle High recently. We had walked all the way to the back past a bunch of adults who ignored us and were happy to let two little kids stand and be jostled. But these two teenagers got up right away and politely offered us their seats.

add December 13, 2012 (1:05 pm)

I got a little teary reading this, too for some reason! I hope this story spreads far & wide, for all the reasons folks have already posted above.

Bonnie December 13, 2012 (1:18 pm)

That is a wonderful story! And a…I notice you can’t put your name to your rude comment about Sealth students. That was incredibly rude of you. My guess is you were one of the jerk drivers honking at the poor woman. Shame on you for comparing the kids from one school to another. You are one of the people who put a divide between West Seattle. Shame on you.

a December 13, 2012 (1:18 pm)

Alki resident- stop being so sensitive. I am a WSHS alum so was just taking a shot at our rivals. Just a friendly jab at Sealth and nothing more. Some of my best friends went to Sealth so I have nothing against Sealth other than they are our rivals and I like to have fun with that. Wish people weren’t overly sensitive on this blog. Takes the fun out of everything when you are ultra sensitive.

a December 13, 2012 (1:22 pm)

Happy in ws- yeah wildcats is pretty lame. It will always be the Indians for me and my fellow alum who knew it as such.

Erik December 13, 2012 (1:30 pm)

This COMPLETELY made my day!!! Thank you Laurie, WSBlog & all those kids. This makes me sooo happy.

MB December 13, 2012 (1:42 pm)

What a great and heart warming story!! It’s always refreshing to hear good things about teenagers ;)

And “a”, way to be the one to take a lovely story and use it to insult others. Great example. I guess old rivalries never die. I, for one, am a Sealth graduate and adult who most definately would have helped and I know quite a few kids who attend BOTH schools who would have helped as well. Unfortunate how many “adults” use this forum as a place to put people they don’t even know down. Sad actually.

caleegraphy December 13, 2012 (2:20 pm)

Prould to know that students from my alumni have goodness and kindness to their elders. There are many wonderful Youth out there that never get acknowledge.

On behalf of The Sealth students: Both my children attended Sealth. I witnesses many kind acts toward others from these students, many that were labled bad or druggies or had family problems. I never had negative treatment from these youth when I volunteered at the school. Once they were clear on what was expected, they met those expectations.

When you label someone negatively they begin to believe it. Many times they just need someone (like parents who don’t have to work two jobs to keep food on the table and the lights on) to spend more time with them.

Wallofjenn December 13, 2012 (2:26 pm)

Made my day… shoot, it made my week!

I teared up reading this too and I think I know why. For the past several months my 13 yr old son has, by my description, put me through the wringer. This story helps me know that teenagers really are human beings with feelings… and so my son most likely is too! LOL Woo hoo!!

Mike December 13, 2012 (3:39 pm)

There are good people, and good teens everywhere, and this story reaffirms that. Good job kids!

Melissa Westbrook December 13, 2012 (4:28 pm)

Good news deserves to be spread around; already have it up at the Seattle Schools Community Forum blog. We love good news about our SPS students!

a December 13, 2012 (4:36 pm)

Mb- you are a perfect example of the overly sensitive I am referring to. Lighten up! Take a joke!

montanapup December 13, 2012 (4:50 pm)

WOW. GREAT KIDS!!! THEY DESERVE KUDOS! Good Karma to Them!

Embarrassed to be an “adult”. Those folks should be ashamed of themselves. Obviously lost their good manners……what a disappointment. Hope their parents dont find out what they did.

a December 13, 2012 (4:54 pm)

Bonnie-go back to Ballard!

a December 13, 2012 (4:59 pm)

MB definitely is spelled with an i not an a. Just an Indian trying to help a Seahawk. Am I still a jerk?

datamuse December 13, 2012 (5:07 pm)

It’s funny how high school rivalries are still important years after you graduate! :D

Alki Resident December 13, 2012 (5:30 pm)

A- You clearly stated Sealth students would not gave done this. You insulted everyone who goes there and went there. I don’t care that you went to WS, your statement was clearly rude and insulting, when this story was based off of a wonderful ending. My statement showed compassion,wish yours had as well.

a December 13, 2012 (5:53 pm)

Like I said before I have friends that went to sealth. I tease them and they tease me. You know why? Because its fun and that’s what rivals do. Get over it

WSB December 13, 2012 (6:03 pm)

“Teasing” doesn’t work in a context like this – nuances just don’t come across in flat online text. And it’s got nothing to do with what this story is about, which means it’s against our “off-topic” rules. So please cease it. Thanks. – TR

Mary December 13, 2012 (6:27 pm)

Thanks Tracy, for both the happy story and for stepping in as the adult in the comments section. As always, I so *heart* the WSB!

AJP December 13, 2012 (7:31 pm)

That’s awesome! A few weeks ago in Georgetown a woman was stuck in the middle of Michigan trying to push her car. People were honking and racing around her. I parked my car and jumped out (and I’m seven months pregnant) to help, and then another guy jumped out too. Why are people less likely to quickly help someone out who obviously needs about 60 seconds of help?