Hero, or fool?

[mi*vida*loca]

It's selfish because he could have been putting his rescuers also in danger if the wind had turned. People often don't think about anyone else when they act impulsively.

I agree. A fool and selfish. Along the same lines when people are told to evacuate and they don’t and rescuers have to come out after the fact.

 

[LSUmiss]

It's selfish because he could have been putting his rescuers also in danger if the wind had turned. People often don't think about anyone else when they act impulsively.

The nature of acting impulsively is that he didn’t have a chance to think about it. He did what he instinctively thought he should at the time. When you’re in crisis mode, you don’t always think straight. Being selfish also requires a conscious decision to do something that will only benefit you despite the needs of others. I doubt there was enough time for him to philosophically weight out the pros & cons. Most likely he saw an innocent creature struggling & jumped into action without thinking. He may even realize now it wasn’t a good idea. In that sense, I think it is heart warming that he was so moved by saving an innocent creature that needed help.

 

[J'aime Paris]

Depends how close he was to the fire. Hopefully he maintained a safe distance. I've seen pictures that "look" as though cars are driving right into the flames, but aren't.

Our next door neighbors house went up in flames last September. I cannot get that image out of my head.
That's one home---not hundreds of thousands of acres! So unbelievably scary!!

 

[LSUmiss]

I agree. A fool and selfish. Along the same lines when people are told to evacuate and they don’t and rescuers have to come out after the fact.

Don’t know about fires but know a lot about evacuations for hurricanes. Ppl don’t always have the resources to evacuate or their elderly or whatever. Some ppl are so self-righteous & quick to judge. MANY MANY ppl died (mostly elderly & poor) who could not evacuate for Katrina...so no rescuers got to them anyway.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Don’t know about fires but know a lot about evacuations for hurricanes. Ppl don’t always have the resources to evacuate or their elderly or whatever. Some ppl are so self-righteous & quick to judge. MANY MANY ppl died (mostly elderly & poor) who could not evacuate for Katrina...so no rescuers got to them anyway.

I should’ve said people who refuse to evacuate. Not people who are unable to. The two aren’t the same.

 

[Marchand63]

Don’t know about fires but know a lot about evacuations for hurricanes. Ppl don’t always have the resources to evacuate or their elderly or whatever. Some ppl are so self-righteous & quick to judge. MANY MANY ppl died (mostly elderly & poor) who could not evacuate for Katrina...so no rescuers got to them anyway.

And many choose to stay and then put rescuers lives at risk by there stupid, selfish act.

The nature of acting impulsively is that he didn’t have a chance to think about it. He did what he instinctively thought he should at the time. When you’re in crisis mode, you don’t always think straight. Being selfish also requires a conscious decision to do something that will only benefit you despite the needs of others. I doubt there was enough time for him to philosophically weight out the pros & cons. Most likely he saw an innocent creature struggling & jumped into action without thinking. He may even realize now it wasn’t a good idea. In that sense, I think it is heart warming that he was so moved by saving an innocent creature that needed help.

He was not in crisis mode - it was a RABBIT!!! It was not a child, or another person.

 

[phamton]

I love animals and even seriously considered becoming a veterinarian when I was in college. But really we could have been reading another headline from this if the wind had shifted and changed the direction of the smoke. We might have read something like this: "20 car pile up from parked vehicle. 40 plus dead." Man stops on side of road to rescue a wild rabbit in fire. Smoke affected visibility and pile up occurred behind parked car, effectively blocking the escape route of multiple people. Fire fighters were not able to reach the stranded in time.

 

[luvsJack]

And many choose to stay and then put rescuers lives at risk by there stupid, selfish act.



He was not in crisis mode - it was a RABBIT!!! It was not a child, or another person.

For Katrina and what happened in NOLA and MS, it wasn't totally expected. Yes we all knew it was coming but the magnitude of what it did just wasn't imagianable.

Also we can't say he wasn't in crisis mode just because it was a rabbit. We don't know what was in his mind. He saw a living creature in distress and reacted instinctively. You may have weighed the danger with the rabbit but perhaps he didn't.

 

[LSUmiss]

And many choose to stay and then put rescuers lives at risk by there stupid, selfish act.



He was not in crisis mode - it was a RABBIT!!! It was not a child, or another person.

He was likely in crisis mode by the simple fact that he was driving through that area. It’s likely he was evacuating or fleeing the area himself. I doubt he was just taking a leisurely drive.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Hi Pea! Hanging in there in the rental. Family descends this week with cat, 26yoDD and her BF. Been a blast taking out the dogs on the leash in the cold.

Answering other, of course! I am going to paraphrase my 21yodd's 8th grade essay...

Heroism is in the mind of the beholder and therefore not real. (Ex. some say Hilter is a hero and most say he is not. Classic two sides to every story. I would elaborate, but you get the jist I think.)

As far as the kid saving the bunny, it is just a kid interjecting himself into the bunnies narrative.

It also conveniently upholds my conclusion, that heroism in the mind of the beholder.

 

[dish rag]

I've done some foolish things in my time to help people in dangerous situations that others stood and watched. Sometimes us fools have a deep down inate feeling that it's the right thing to do and things will work out. He probably did and went for it.

 

[EveDallas]

He's a fool. He's lucky he didn't end up needing to be rescued himself.

 

[EveDallas]

Selfish??? Perhaps it was impulsive & he did what he thought was right at the time. I’m not sure that it was the right decision given the risks. But, I think it’s heart-warming to see a person who saw a living thing struggling & panicking & felt compassion enough that made him spring into action. I’m not sure how that’s selfish.

Wild rabbits have been dealing with fires for centuries. They know how to survive. The more likely scenario is that a human chasing it caused it to panic.

 

[LSUmiss]

Wild rabbits have been dealing with fires for centuries. They know how to survive. The more likely scenario is that a human chasing it caused it to panic.

I don’t disagree. I was responding more to the state of mind of the guy. I think his heart was in the right place although I agree it wasn’t a good idea (most likely). I find it refreshing that someone would be so moved that he thought he needed to do something even if he didn’t need to or shouldn’t have.

 

[LSUmiss]

I've done some foolish things in my time to help people in dangerous situations that others stood and watched. Sometimes us fools have a deep down inate feeling that it's the right thing to do and things will work out. He probably did and went for it.

There was just a story here about a guy who jumped into the lake to save 2 guys in a car that had driven into the lake. Then that guy went missing & there was a 3 day search that ended up recovering the body of the Good Samaritan. They showed his family on the news &, of course, they’re heartbroken. Some could/would say he was foolish b/c even though it was a person, the lake is known to have a strong current & weather conditions were rough that day so even a good swimmer would likely drown. And he put numerous rescue ppl in harm that had to try to save him in even tougher conditions. But, the guy didn’t likely have time to think about all of that. He just jumped into action. Of course, it was a person & not a rabbit, but I think it’s also somewhat relevant that the guys who drove into the lake were up to no good & likely intoxicated so absolutely at fault for their “accident”. The guy who jumped in to save them also likely knew that b/c he was in the restaurant where the guys had been kicked out for their behavior.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I answered other- I don't know what I would do in that situation I don't know whether to say he was a hero or a fool for going in to save a rabbit.

It is possible he was thinking "I can't bear the thought of that animal losing their life going towards the fire" regardless of whether it's equally as possible the rabbit could have escaped the fire. It was probably the unknown that got to him.

In any case it can be hard no matter what to think about an animal dying. Each year we have lived here there has been wild rabbits that mate and then the mom burrows in our front yard somewhere to have her babies. And each year we are cautious of our garage knowing that they have gone in there to seek shelter from the sun/heat, etc. Well one time we thought we got all the rabbits out, we came back from vacation and noticed a smell in the garage. One of the baby rabbits was there dead on our garage floor. That image stuck with me for quite a while with the thought of "if only I had just looked for 10mins longer in the garage maybe that one would have lived". Yeah it was only a rabbit but it still stuck with me.

So yeah I don't really know hero or fool or what I would even do if that had been me in his shoes.

 

[luvsJack]

Hi Pea! Hanging in there in the rental. Family descends this week with cat, 26yoDD and her BF. Been a blast taking out the dogs on the leash in the cold.

Answering other, of course! I am going to paraphrase my 21yodd's 8th grade essay...

Heroism is in the mind of the beholder and therefore not real. (Ex. some say Hilter is a hero and most say he is not. Classic two sides to every story. I would elaborate, but you get the jist I think.)

As far as the kid saving the bunny, it is just a kid interjecting himself into the bunnies narrative.

It also conveniently upholds my conclusion, that heroism in the mind of the beholder.

Not sure in what way Hitler could be seen as a hero but I don't believe it's in the eye of the beholder.

A hero does what he/she thinks is right without thinking of his/her own safety. Jumping in to save a child from drowning. Pulling someone from a burning car. Putting a uniform on every day that puts your life in jeopardy. Saving a horse that falls through a frozen lake. And yes doing what you think is saving a rabbit. These are all heroes. I honestly don't see how else a hero can be seen

 

[ronandannette]

My DS is a firefighter. I have preached and preached to him that no animal is worth risking your life for. No one’s cat/dog/hamster/fish etc. I don’t know how he would respond if he was faced with this situation but I would hope he wouldn’t put himself and others in danger rescuing an animal. I know this person wasn’t a firefighter though.

It must be a tremendous worry for you - prayers that your DS stays safe. Do you happen to know if FD's have a policy on this? Are firefighters even allowed to go into fires to save pets? I'm sure it's not exactly like what we see on tv.

I agree. A fool and selfish. Along the same lines when people are told to evacuate and they don’t and rescuers have to come out after the fact.

I agree and it plays havoc with the emergency response plans and the safety of the first responders. What on God's good earth is wrong with some people?

I love animals and even seriously considered becoming a veterinarian when I was in college. But really we could have been reading another headline from this if the wind had shifted and changed the direction of the smoke. We might have read something like this: "20 car pile up from parked vehicle. 40 plus dead." Man stops on side of road to rescue a wild rabbit in fire. Smoke affected visibility and pile up occurred behind parked car, effectively blocking the escape route of multiple people. Fire fighters were not able to reach the stranded in time.

{{shudder}} What a chilling thought.

 

[marthachick]

It must be a tremendous worry for you - prayers that your DS stays safe. Do you happen to know if FD's have a policy on this? Are firefighters even allowed to go into fires to save pets? I'm sure it's not exactly like what we see on tv.

I’m not sure what policy is - he is actually a volunteer firefighter now but I hope he remembers what mama says. Lol. And it is a worry.

 

[Marchand63]

He was likely in crisis mode by the simple fact that he was driving through that area. It’s likely he was evacuating or fleeing the area himself. I doubt he was just taking a leisurely drive.

Really?!?! Ok, I'll say to you what I say to people who do this on our highways all the time - ok, I'll let your widow know the bunny/duck/goose survived - they can put that on your headstone.

Crisis is your life, your loved ones lives, a human life not a RABBIT!!!!