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This is based off the 2004 movie Cellular, and it will have spoilers as to the plot. Don't read it if you don't want the movie explained to you--but even if you do, the movie is still pretty cool.
For the scenario, check this spoiler.
Spoiler:
You're helping a friend and promise to be back in just a few minutes. You get a phone call. A lady begs and pleads for your help.
"Hello? I need your help. I've been kidnapped. I don't know where I am. You have to let me talk to the police. Please, I'm begging. My name is ________. They're going to kill me! I promise you, this isn't some sick twisted prank. Please, just let me talk to a police officer." You shake your head, a little skeptical of the ordeal.
"What does this have to do with me?" you ask her.
"The phone I'm using is shattered. I've been clicking wires together for hours hoping to reach somebody--anybody. Please, you have to help me." Her voice gets quieter. "They're coming. Please stay on the line! I don' know if I'll be able to connect to anyone if I lose you" she pleads as her voice grows softer as she moves away from the phone. You hear a door slam open and the voice of a man.
"Come on, tell us what where he is." The lady screams hysterically and you hear a loud thud as she cries out in pain. "You have son. He goes to _________ elementary school." The lady begins to sob and repeatedly screams no. Once again you hear a door slam and a few brief moments later, the voice of the lady returns the phone.
"Are you still there? Please, you have to help me. They're going after my son. Please, go get him." She pauses for a little bit. "What time is it?" You casually tell her it's 1:30. "His school gets out at 1:45. They have may car, he'll just hop right in. Please, you have to get him first. He goes to ________ 1:45. His name is _______ Please. He's really short for his age. He has blonde hair. And green eyes. He'll be at the parent pick-up zone. I have a black suv."
Would you, at this point go to help the lady (assuming you drive and its about a 15 minute drive away)? Even though you're risking your own life with these thugs?
If you said yes....
Spoiler:
You make it to the school just as the bell rings. The kid are a massive mob as the exit the school building. You scan the crowd, but don't see anyone that fits the description or answer the name. As you go to the pick-up zone, you look for black suvs but there's a lot of them. "There's a lot of cars here like that." You tell her. "I don't see him."
"He has a lord of the rings backpack" she tells you, just as you notice a kid walk by with such a backpack. You rush over and call out his name, pushing passed the school security officer who is questioning why you aren't in the parent pick-up zone. But its too late, the thugs grab him and pull him in the car and start to drive off.
You car is all the way on the other side of the building. You notice the security officers car running in the parking lot. You yelled that the kid just got kidnapped but the security gives you a puzzled look. Do you take his car so that you can chase the suv down? Keep in mind that you can't call the cops or you'll lose contact with the lady on the phone."
If you said yes,
Spoiler:
You start to chase them, weaving in and out of cars but eventually get stuck behind a bus. with some slick driving you speed passed the bus, but have lost sight of the suv. Only to further get caught in traffic. As you search for the SUV your phone indicates it has low battery. As you look around for a charger in the car, you don't find one but actually find a gun in the glove box. You notice a cell-phone store off the highway and pull into it. In just your string of luck, they happen to be jam-packed full of customers and no one will help you. You're willing to pay for the charger, but everyone just says get in line. But you don't have time for that. You think of the gun in the car... do you go get it so that you can acquire a charger and not lose the only life line this lady--and now her son--have?
If you said yes,
Spoiler:
You get someone to finally help you. You pay for the charger, if for no other reason than a sign of good faith. You aren't, after all, a criminal. You hear the thugs return and they threaten to kill the boy if the lady doesn't tell them where her husband is. She finally relents and tell them he will be at a bar in the airport. You race to the airport and see the suv already there, and men that fit a description she gave you. You start to follow them, hoping to get to the bar first. As you stand in line for the baggage scan, you realize you have the gun in your pocket still. Thinking quickly, you put it in the bin of the man before--the kidnapper--and slip by in the commotion. He explains that he is a cop and shows his badge, so they let him through and he manages to beat you to the husband. They take him away. A little bit later you get word that what they are looking for from the man is in a safety deposit box at his bank. The lady pleads with you to go there and help him. Do you?"
If you said yes,
Spoiler:
You get to the bank just as they do, and the kidnapped husband is already in line. He goes to his safety deposit box and pulls out a black carrying case. You wait and see him hand it over to the man. You tell this to lady and she pleads with you, "Please, you have to get it. I don't know what it is, but I know that we're all dead when they get it." You run passed them, snatching the bag on the way and make it out. A little bit later, they discover her makeshift phone and you are forced to talk to them. They demand the tapes, but you want assurance the family is safe first. You begin to work out plans to exchange the package for the family. You take a taxi to the meeting place and see just what it is that the men want so badly. Inside the carrying case is a camera. You watch the only recording on it--the men, the crooked cops, committing a murder. Knowing this, are you still willing to meet them in a gamble to save the family? As a precaution, you record the video on to your phone.
If you said yes,
Spoiler:
You manage to acquire a jacket to disguise yourself with so they don't get the drop on you. As you're talking to them and asking about the safety of the family, the tell you where the are and you accidentally divulge your general location by acknowledging your visual on the van they are being kept in. The friends you ditched recognize your voice and pull the jacket away from your face. The criminals id you and move in, taking you by gun point. Your friends realizing you are in some trouble get help from a nearby police officer. The thugs, under the guise of police officers themselves also enlist his help. They manage to catch you and take you the end of a dock. They smash the camera. Right as they are about to shoot you, your friend wanders up trying to figure out what is going on. This gives you a window to make an escape. As you run from them and hide in a shack one of the men follows you in. He radios to his cohorts his location and says that he wants you dead. The cop helping them realizes that something fishy is going, having heard the transmission and kills the crooked cop he is with. You manage to get the drop on the leader and knock him unconscious. One of his lackeys arrives before the good cop does and threatens you at gun point. As you try to buy some time, you are saved by the good cop. They begin to make an arrest, but the ring leader pleads his innocence, trying to use his status to hide his guilt. You provide the video you transferred onto your phone. With that taken care of, you take the officer to the van where the family is being located and rescue them. Congratulations, you just saved this family."
That happens to be an extreme case. I'm also curious to know how far you would go for a stranger if it wasn't a dramatic thing. What if it was homeless guy asking for change, or an old lady who needed help carrying her groceries in, or crossing the road? What if someone got in a terrible accident and they need a blood transfusion and you happen to be the nearest compatible person? What if they need an organ transplant and you're the nearest compatible person? While they have family who is also compatible on the way, the doctor says it needs to be done immediately to save their life?
The BEST option in this little scenario would be to go to the police, hand them the phone, and let her talk to them. I don't see why anyone would say no to that once she explained herself.
A small help just like words only or pointing out things. Talk about lending money and food. But going with them is like you're gonna hear your head shouting "GO NO FURTHER!"
I'd only help someone with directions, or if the person asking is elderly. I remember there was an elderly woman in my neighborhood who was trying to carry her wheel basket of groceries up the front stairs of her door. She asked me for help and of course I couldn't say no, she would have been stuck there straining her back.
I would not lend money or food to a stranger nor would I ever travel with them someplace for whatever reason.
Oh wow. I seem like a bit of an outcast here, because while I can't say I'd go the lengths the character did in the movie I'm too compassionate to not help someone in need even if it puts me in a bad spot :/
