I’m 22, I was turning in my car in town to drop a form off when a kid (13ish?) blocked my turn and was frantically motioning to roll my window down. He was begging me to give him a ride and since I was in the middle of the road I said okay. He got in and he needed a ride to a school a minute away, so I took him there and dropped him off.
I’m worried now. I thought it was an emergency but he just wanted to get to a football game. I’m sure some people driving behind me saw this. I just wasn’t thinking/super tired and it was stupid, I should have refused. How bad did I mess up??
Edit: thanks for your answers, I feel better now
Comments
You didn’t mess up. People used to hitchhike all the time and if the kid was just going to school, a public place, and you dropped him off that doesn’t sound like a big deal? If you were on some sort of offender registry list then that makes sense for concern.
Obviously it looks weird when you know the context of the situation. The people behind you mind have assumed you knew the kid. But also could have thought it was suspicious.
I don’t think it was necessarily a bad thing. We just live in a shitty world now and shitty things happen so good people are now forced to question innocent actions and be extra careful. That kid could have genuinely needed help. And, who knows, if you hadn’t given him a ride, he might have walked and got hit by a car. Don’t feel bad.
I’m not saying to keep doing it but I’m not saying to not do it. Just maybe next time put a voice recorder on your phone to protect yourself.
ur fine. just be careful picking up random strangers especially kids (im sure i don’t have to tell u why). u should get clarity on whether it’s an emergency, y can’t they get someone else? y can’t they uber? is someone in danger. even so, if it is an emergency then u tell them to call their parents or 911. and u could wait with them if it is an emergency and they r scared. don’t let them j. ur car, pull out and wait outside with them. but ye. anyways u should be fine
This is the sort of thing my OCD tells me to worry about. Once I was swimming in the river and a little kid started floating away. His parents were on the shore and shouted to me to bring the kid in. I swam out and brought the lil kid back. Then for weeks worried that I was somehow going to be accused of being a PDF lol. OCD be wildin
I just would not do it again. If you were seen having a 13 yr old get into your car, suspicious people would think child abduction or molestation.
What if he was in danger? You let him in and got him away from the location he was at. Thank you.
Nothing bad happened so there’s nothing to report
If the kid went missing, then someone might look into it, and someone might figure out that you were the last person to see him
Since he didn’t go missing and he just went home after the game you’re fine
You didn’t mess up necessarily, but don’t do it again. I don’t think anyone would look twice at you for giving a kid a ride, emergency or not. You dropped him off safe, so all is well .
But be wary of scammers or thieves trying to bait you with a child. Children are unfortunately often employed to get you to open your car door or stop so that whoever is in charge can try to steal your car/rob you/accuse you of kidnapping and extort you for hush money.
Sadly, we don’t live in a world where it’s safe to give people rides anymore. Be smart and stay safe.
Did they find his body somewhere?
If he flagged you down and you took him to the school nobody is going to think twice about it. You might have saved him from getting a beat down from some other kids or something.
Report that kid to his school. What he did was dangerous and irresponsible.
No problem. Glad the kid isn’t too paranoid about asking for help from adults. Yeah, “stranger danger”, and all that, but since the kid initiated contact and it was for a brief, specific purpose, I wouldn’t sweat it.
Just don’t make it a habit. 😉
If a kid is frantically waving you down for help, please do try to help them. What a terrible world we’ve created for ourselves. What if this kid really did have an emergency and you were afraid to help? Sometimes the right things to do isn’t always the smartest thing to do these days. Fight back against a corrupt system, be brave! I commend you for helping the kid get to his game on time.
You know what? It really sucks that you’re thinking that this could be a problem for you.
You didn’t solicit him, he solicited you. You didn’t do anything wrong… You actually dropped him off exactly where he asked.
Yes, he is a minor, but sometimes an adult helping a minor is actually the right thing to do. Not the wrong thing to do.
I am so disappointed in society that we’ve gotten to a point where we can’t be a generous human being for fear of being labeled as a predator.
Haha you sound like a sensitive person. This was what sensitive people do: think with their hearts and then start questioning if it was the right thing to do.
Been there, done that, wrote the book, made the movie.
As long as your intentions were pure, you’re fine. You saw someone needed help and immediately did what you could. Sure it turned out not to be an emergency after all, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. You would’ve regretted it if you said no and then later found out he escaped a kidnapper or something. That’s extreme, but things like that do happen.
Do kids know the “roll down your window” motion? That’s old school.
If it was a girl it would most def be a huge risk if you are a boy
Men are guilty until proven innocent when women are involved
I would have asked him if he had a phone to call his parents or offered to call them for him. Ain’t no way im letting anyone in my car. Fuck that.
I did this once, and he pulled a knife out of his boot, put it at my neck and said to keep driving. Be careful out there.
Bro, I heard some random kid thought I was following him the other night. It was 8 pm, I was carry lunch home. He saw me at the shop, then on the street, then I went down a different street on purpose..People are insane
I would not give a child a ride. I would pull over and determine if there was an emergency and call if needed. If you get into an accident with the child in your car it can become a big mess.
Relax bro damn don’t worry about it so much you can’t change it. If he’s asking strangers for rides I doubt the parents are too involved good thing it was you and not someone else with more nefarious goals.
There’s nothing wrong or illegal with giving a kid a ride. The problem is the appearance of malfeasance. I wouldn’t recommend giving a girl a ride, though. I’d much sooner wait by the side of the road as she called a parent. I’m not even sure I’d sit in the car with her. I’m 6’3, bearded, and built like a concrete building, I get enough dirty looks.
Nahhh. You helped little dude get to the game. Could have lectured him on how reckless everything he did was though.
You know it’s not the best thing for you. Thank goodness there was no blowback. You won’t do it next time. Done
The kid was really stupid to do that, but if a kid appeared in front of me and appeared to be panicking, I might do the same.
You’re fine. Just don’t do it again unless you get the OK from the kid’s parent.
my dad did this once too. it was either before i was born or when i was very young (im 19 so it was awhile ago.) a teenage girl walked over to our house and saw him outside. she asked him for a ride to school because she had missed the bus and he did it. my mom always has said that he should not have done that.
don’t ever do it again for obvious reasons, but it’s unlikely that anything will ever come out of this.
Thanks for being a kind person who stood up and did the right thing
I gave a child a ride home once. She seemed to be lost. I dropped her at the end of her street.
I went straight home and called the middle school and asked to speak to the principal. I mentioned her name and her street. “There’s a parent that thinks the child is at school and she isn’t.”
I was thanked for doing the right thing.
Maybe you saved him from getting in a car with the “wrong” person
Well…it’s weird to get a ride from a stranger for something that close by. I would have picked up a frantic kid in the road in a heartbeat. You never know what’s going on there, someone could be after them.
Kids. Glad everything worked out okay.
The worst thing you did was reinforce his behavior of asking strangers for rides.
Helping someone doesn’t make you a hero or a villain, just human.
In today’s world, kindness comes with caution but not regret.
You gave a kid a ride to school, not kidnapped a bank. Chill out.
Next time, trust your gut and maybe a dash of paranoia too.
You did a nice thing for a young person.
I wouldn’t worry about it.
I know scams are always possible but I can’t live my life in fear of them.
I would say yes hop in, but first use my phone to call your parents so they know where you are travelling & with who and so they have my number as security for you. You call them again from yoyr phone when you get out of the car to let them know you’e safe.
If I was a guy, sadly, in this day and age I would probably set my pone to voice record and leave it on the dash as security for myself against accusations of foul play.
Has the kid never heard of stranger danger?! He’s lucky you were a good person. I’d be worrying too, but you didn’t do anything wrong. I hope this good deed goes unpunished.
As long as you didnt sexually abuse the kid you’ll be fine
What. The. Fuck? Opie asks “Is it okay if I helped someone who asked me for help?” And what was up with that completely bizarre part when he said he was turning in “a form?” Thats like too many unnecessary details AND being too vague at the same time. Lol. Stay in your lane bro
You should not have given him a ride. As you can see, he took advantage of your good nature. Some 13 year-old boys are able to overpower females. It could’ve gone very differently for you.
It’s so sad that this even needs to be a concern. I hope one day we live in a world where an adult can help out a kid without having to worry about looking like a creep.
you acted in the moment thinking it might’ve been an emergency. You dropped him off safe and that’s that
Congrats, you accidentally LARPed as an Uber.
you’re fine. the kid needs to be more careful but at least you got them to where they needed to go safely
Kind of sad you’d even think you might have messed up by helping a kid get to where he needed to go. Says a lot about why we don’thelp each other these days
You’re fine. Lucky you didn’t get a gun pulled on you and your car stolen though.
Gave them a safe ride – they were going to find a way regardless. 💗
This is normal in a high trust society
I remember when I was a teenager, about 15 years ago, I used to be offered and take lifts all the time. I lived in a rural area and so would often walk a long way to meet friends.
I saw a bus broken down a few weeks ago and then saw an older man sat at the bus stop about a mile later. I stopped to tell him that the bus wasn’t coming and asked where he was going. It turned out that he lived in the village next to mine (about 10 miles away from the bus stop) so I ran him home. It’s nice to be able to help and I wish it wasn’t treated so suspiciously now.