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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTender moments caught on Russian dash cams
Tender moments caught on Russian dash cams
Many Russian cars are outfitted with dashboard cameras to protect drivers against insurance fraud. These cameras have caught all sorts of crazy happenings -- car accidents, low-flying jets, insurance scam attempts, meteors, and plane crashes
-- leading many to believe that Russia is a place where crazy shit pretty much happens constantly.
But Russia's dash cams have also captured many more tender moments -- people hopping out of their cars to help old ladies across the street, looking after little kids who wandered into the street, pushing cars out of snowbanks, etc.
http://kottke.org/
who knew?
HappyMe
(20,277 posts)Thanks for posting this.
roguevalley
(40,656 posts)Xithras
(16,191 posts)...a lot of those Russian dashcam videos can make you question your faith in humanity. This was a nice change of pace.
Are_grits_groceries
(17,111 posts)Now that is reality tv.
FSogol
(45,434 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)lumpy
(13,704 posts)n
silverweb
(16,402 posts)[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]It's nice to see them in action, too, instead of just the bad people who are always in the news.
idwiyo
(5,113 posts)skydive forever
(443 posts)I saw this video on FOX news just the other day.
ladjf
(17,320 posts)dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)One of foremost reasons I chose to be here, esp. during the years as a single person driving at night.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)NCTraveler
(30,481 posts)Thanks for posting.
idwiyo
(5,113 posts)times a day.
Beaverhausen
(24,469 posts)can't post it, but it made my heart swell up.
iemitsu
(3,888 posts)I have stopped many times to help others in need and, as a driver, I always try to provide safe passage/right-of-way for pedestrians to cross streets. In fact I believe that when I am present anywhere, I am responsible (at least partly) for how things unfold.
I know people act this way because my parents did and I do and most of my siblings do.
I know that plenty of others share this attitude and that plenty more don't.
Each one of us has it within our power to increase the number of people willing to stop and help others, simply by being that person.
Ikonoklast
(23,973 posts)And all those helping the old and infirm, the kids and the animals, Karma to you all.
ZRT2209
(1,357 posts)kimmylavin
(2,284 posts)Thank you for posting!
Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)BlueJazz
(25,348 posts)Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)The farmlands look like the Midwest.
They are not an aggressive people, they are proud working class types with a strong sense of community. The USSR told it's people they were defending them from Western invasion,..and "decadence" which coincidentally is the same campaign of fear of the "other", bravado and "proud work ethic" the Republicans use in rural America to sell themselves.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)like to meet the other kind.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)....even though it feels like we invented it...
iemitsu
(3,888 posts)just like any other group of people, they come in all kinds.
The thing I find most amusing though, is how different the image of Russian people, that we were fed throughout the Cold War, is from the reality of what Russian people are really like (at least those, who have immigrated to the Pacific Northwest).
This includes what Russian people look like.
As a youngster every image I saw of Russian people could fit into one of two categories. Those Russians in heavy, military, winter regalia or those shaped like potato-sack peasants, sunbathing in skimpy bathing suits. I have had dozens of Russian students filter through my classroom and they really look like Swedish models.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)(again, not very many) have been hyper-aggressive and to my taste unpleasant/manipulative.
iemitsu
(3,888 posts)How we view a group depends entirely or mostly on those from that group we encounter. I suppose that Russians, who immigrate to America, do so for a variety of reasons. This might also affect the behaviors that you have seen displayed.
The Russians in my community are mostly here because the Soviet government persecuted their Pentecostal faith. Those Russians in America, whose families left Russia because of mafia involvement probably act differently than the church flock.
In school, the girls are much more ambitious than the boys (at least in my experience) but that may just apply to those born in the old country. Those born here are pretty well assimilated.
As with other immigrant groups, the pressure to adopt American behaviors and attitudes is strong among young Russian-Americans.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)iemitsu
(3,888 posts)Sometimes I'm just an ass and can't shut up.
Sorry.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)Dash87
(3,220 posts)TxGrandpa
(124 posts)Thanks for posting this!!!!
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)TxGrandpa
(124 posts)I think I'll like it here..
hamsterjill
(15,220 posts)Uplifting...and I needed that today!
neverforget
(9,436 posts)We need more of this.
malaise
(268,641 posts)Touching doesn't quite describe it. Thank you Grits
secondvariety
(1,245 posts)Thanks.
kdmorris
(5,649 posts)Thanks for posting it....it was beautiful.
libodem
(19,288 posts)I'm all puddled up.
WCGreen
(45,558 posts)RILib
(862 posts)timdog44
(1,388 posts)whole thing. Big bad male that I am.
oh my
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)timdog44
(1,388 posts)My Dad was an emotional man. I just assume I got it from him. But all kinds of things get me going. Dad was a Presbyterian minister and so I know lots of hymns by heart. I do not practice religion anymore, but for different situations I have to go to church and when I try to sing a hymn, I start to cry. Lots of times when I am trying to tell my wife about something touching or the very least emotional, I have to wait for the emotions to check in or out, before I can continue. I guess it is a good thing, or that is what my wife tells me. Even singing songs that were popular when I was growing up do the same thing. Even just listening to some do that to me. Nothing I can do about it, so I just let it happen.
onethatcares
(16,161 posts)they are just like us.
It's the leaders that use us against each other to enrich themselves.
Peace on all of you and them that have a heart.
AsahinaKimi
(20,776 posts)I guess unless we install dash cams.. It would be hard to know.
1monster
(11,012 posts)who regularly practice randome acts of kindness do not go around bragging about it.
Luminous Animal
(27,310 posts)AsahinaKimi
(20,776 posts)all my transportation is bus, taxi or feet.
Luminous Animal
(27,310 posts)Like helping people on the street. Or offering to help a tourist when they are clearly confused when holding a map. Or helping a person carry heavy bags if you are going their way. Or helping a neighbor bring in the groceries. Or helping a stranger get the baby stroller down the stairs of Muni or BART.
That kind of thing.
AsahinaKimi
(20,776 posts)volunteering at the VA hospital with Vets..on my own dime. I think that might count.
Luminous Animal
(27,310 posts)spontaneous random acts of kindness.
AsahinaKimi
(20,776 posts)I just decided not to stop.
ProdigalJunkMail
(12,017 posts)and they do acknowledge that sometimes weird shit goes down on the roads... they also say you see a lot of this type of thing from big cities to rural roads... big hearted people!
sP
roguevalley
(40,656 posts)JNelson6563
(28,151 posts)I'm in a small city in northern MI & I see things like this regularly. Have been helped out of deep snow more than once, have helped others out of same. Have seen an older lady fall off her bike and just about everyone in the cars around jumped out to see if she was ok.
I could cite many examples I have done myself or witnessed but I'm sure you get my point. Take heart, there are lots of caring people out here!
Julie
alphafemale
(18,497 posts)Many of us were.
I pretty much knew it was bullshit.
treestar
(82,383 posts)And just like us, after all.
nessa
(317 posts).
colorado_ufo
(5,730 posts)I've had a rough day.
I'm OK now!
Flaxbee
(13,661 posts)to make sure I'd gotten out of the area and safely home.
Crazy shit happens all the time, and if no one gets hurt, it's often quite funny. You really have to just roll with it if you're in Russia. But the Russians I know are some of the kindest, most humane people I've ever met. One of our closest friends' dearest wish is to set up, as he puts it a "cat orphanage" and he feeds all the strays throughout the winter.
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,514 posts)Brought tears to my eyes...
Thank you!
DiverDave
(4,886 posts)thanks, that was great.
Stuart G
(38,403 posts)City Lights
(25,171 posts)eissa
(4,238 posts)No, I'm NOT crying....I just have something in my eye
GeoWilliam750
(2,521 posts)Tikki
(14,549 posts)Last edited Sat May 4, 2013, 10:16 AM - Edit history (1)
But the snow...
Tikki
Buns_of_Fire
(17,148 posts)just casually reaching out to adjust someone else's side-view mirror.
Everyone who drives any kind of motor vehicle should watch this at least once. Thank you.
Samantha
(9,314 posts)This was a very touching video. We need more like this.
Sam
Control-Z
(15,682 posts)And totally unexpected. I giggled. Then went back to these watery eyes.
mountain grammy
(26,595 posts)You're never in trouble for long in my neck of the woods.
But, Denver's pretty good too. My daughter had a flat tire at night in a high crime area of Denver. She and her girlfriend started getting the jack and spare out when a big latino man approached. He said, "don't worry, my mom is sitting on that porch across the street and told me to come over and help." My daughter looked across the street, and there was an older lady smiling and waving. In ten minutes they were on their way.
Buns_of_Fire
(17,148 posts)freshwest
(53,661 posts)HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)by him and around him. one guy stops.
do they have traffic lights & crosswalks in russia?
denbot
(9,897 posts)I needed that.
marble falls
(56,974 posts)MissDeeds
(7,499 posts)I've got a lump in my throat the size of a watermelon. Thanks so much for posting this. I really needed to see acts of kindness today.
K&R
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)Solly Mack
(90,758 posts)We don't always hear about them but they're out there.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)thank you
summerschild
(725 posts)Historic NY
(37,449 posts)SheilaT
(23,156 posts)stopped to help elderly people cross the street.
Looks like they haven't forgotten that everyone has a mother.
iemitsu
(3,888 posts)These cameras document that quality in people, but they also document another, not-so-nice quality. They document how many don't stop for old women crossing roads or to help a fallen man with crutches right himself.
Other than the snow it seems that this could have been compiled about American drivers too.
ashling
(25,771 posts)CokeMachine
(1,018 posts)Made me homesick for rural Idaho -- the snow and everyone lending a helping hand.
flvegan
(64,403 posts)It doesn't take much, folks. We're all in this together.