I commonly read horror stories on here of people who have gotten into accidents and the it’s-not-my-fault attitude of the driver who actually caused the accident. However, I would like to point out that not all cases are like this.
A friend of mine was biking about a couple of weeks ago and was hit by a driver. At first the injuries seemed to be not that bad, however the next day, due to severe headaches, he was rushed back to the hospital and underwent emergency surgery to remove blood clots from his head. To shorten the story, the surgery was a great success, and the rate of recovery is absolutely amazing considering the dire condition he was in.
But that is not the point of this post. As soon as the driver was contacted and notified of my friend’s condition, the driver and his family did not say “It’s not my fault”, but instead came to the hospital and accepted all blame and profusely apologized for everything that happened. As well, the driver and his mother have been at the hospital during every single visitation and have completely taken care of all expenses that have been incurred as well as arranging travel arrangements for my friend’s family to come over to Taiwan to care for their son. And my friend is set up in what I guess could be called a VIP room, it is private, has a sofa, chairs, refrigerator, and they have also hired an around-the-clock caregiver to sit with him at all times. And even without the financial assistance, I personally would like to commend the family for their actions, in today’s societies all across the globe there seem to be few people like this any longer.
Therefore, while you can read and hear about numerous accidents where the party at fault takes no responsibility, please remember that not everyone is like this.There are still wonderful people out there.
One of my long list of twisted theories involves the fact that whilst 95% of Taiwanese folks are selfish, ignorant, inconsiderate, duplicitous, money worshiping, bigoted arseholes, the other 5% have the entire 23 million people’s karmic allotment worth of generosity, tolerance, courtesy, thoughtfulness, kindness and open hearted good nature distilled and concentrated between them… The trick, as with everything, is sifting the wheat from the chaff…
Also, when you are loaded with cash, it is easier to “take responsibility” for something, I guess they didn’t take a loan at the bank for all these expenses.
The fact they came at the hospital to visit the patient is good enough for me. The rest is just splashing money, nice, but of course not everyone is able to that and it isn’t a sign of a “good person”.
If I were at the driver seat, I would definitely see the guy at the hospital, but wouldn’t be able to put him in a VIP room or pay for his parent expenses to come and see him, would that mean I am not a “good person”?
In any case, I am glad your friend is OK, which, really, is the only important thing.
Merry Christmas.
On the contrary, some of the slimiest people I ever met in Taiwan were the ‘almost rich’. IME, most likely to run after an accident: C or E-class Mercedes 190/200/230, BMW 318/520, Yuelong Cefiro. For sure they could afford to take responsibility, but no. The attitude seems to be, “I had to lie, cheat and steal my ass off for what I have and I’m fucked if I’m giving that up just because I mowed some old geezer down while drunk”.
On the contrary, some of the slimiest people I ever met in Taiwan were the ‘almost rich’. IME, most likely to run after an accident: C or E-class Mercedes 190/200/230, BMW 318/520, Yuelong Cefiro. For sure they could afford to take responsibility, but no. The attitude seems to be, “I had to lie, cheat and steal my ass off for what I have and I’m fucked if I’m giving that up just because I mowed some old geezer down while drunk”.[/quote]
There is that too, you’re right.
On the contrary, some of the slimiest people I ever met in Taiwan were the ‘almost rich’. IME, most likely to run after an accident: C or E-class Mercedes 190/200/230, BMW 318/520, Yuelong Cefiro. For sure they could afford to take responsibility, but no. The attitude seems to be, “I had to lie, cheat and steal my ass off for what I have and I’m fucked if I’m giving that up just because I mowed some old geezer down while drunk”.[/quote]
Speaking from my own experiences in Taiwan, the wealthiest people I’ve known here have also generally been the most generous. It’s odd, and I think it has to do with a mix of face, class and karma. Rich folk lose face by being stingy.
The wealthiest people I’ve known in Canada have mostly been cheap bastards. My uncle - a judge - gave me a towel for Christmas one year and a used DVD another. It’s the thought that counts, of course, but it’s strange that the family member with the million dollar home would be stingier than the aunt with a tiny apartment.
It’s great that your friend is OK! How exactly did he get hit?
Me thinks that the family that helped are practicing Buddhists. During my time in Taiwan, those who I met who truly observed Buddhism were really really kindhearted and dedicated to the teachings.
That would be the latter… Taichung county is knee deep with utter pricks I’m afraid…
But in retrospect and in the spirit of fairness and reconciliation, I’d revise my percentages down to about 60/40… for my slice of the central Taiwan hinterland at any rate…
Thanks for the replies, and yes, considering the grumpy f*ck just had brain surgery less than two weeks ago he is doing awesome… Doing so good that he put on his clothes earlier this week and snuck out to go home and get clothes. I haven’t seen them, but there have been articles in the Chinese papers which focus on his miraculous recovery… Supposedly, doctors from other hospitals have been visiting him since they are very surprised with how fast he has recovered.
As for the financial assistance, even without it the family has been excellent in their kindness. The financial support was never expected, not in the way they have provided anyway.
And it happened as he was hauling ass around the SOGO (chongxiao) area and the van clipped him as it was merging right. IF he would have been wearing a helmet it wouldn’t have been that bad, but you know how us skate (board) fags are, we never wear helmets. Until now that is.
Yeah. I’ve seen that 5%. But I’ve not seen that 95% suck. I think it’s more like 20% but they suck hard enough to seem like they are 95%.
I always told people when I was there that there was only a small percentage of assholes. But when you see 10,000 people a day, you’re gonna see more assholes than you can handle.
Indeed, the asshole exponential factor is bound to raise it’s head now and again in a land with the second highest population density…
Which is why the good shine so much brighter…
It’s the midnight special all over again…
I suspect they did it to stay out of the newspapers. Someone in the family was probably a public figure. Also, newspapers don’t often report 10 year-old news.
