Love Thy Neighbor... But only if it's convenient.

Last week as I was driving home I noticed an older lady standing by the side of the road wildly waving her arms in the direction of a feed lot.  For those of you that do not live near the country a feed lot is a fenced in area where cows are placed and fed, pretty simple really.

Anyway, I looked to see what the woman was possibly up to and I noticed that her frantic waving was at a young  cow that had escaped the fence.  Chuckling I turned the car around and went to help her.  As I approached it was clear that the cow was not having fun, she was very intent on crossing the road to no doubt eat the grass on the other side of the road, of course it was greener at least to her.  The nice older lady was doing her best at keeping the persistent cow out of the road and out of trouble.

As I looked at the gate my first feelings of annoyance with the situation started to grow, there was a padlock holding together the chain linking the two gates.  So there we were, the nice older woman, me, and the annoyed cow.  No way to get her back in her home, and no idea who she belonged to.  I have had a few cows in the past, and yes they have decided to taste the grass on the other side of the fence a few times.  I knew how much money and time the owner had in this cow, and I also knew how much damage a decent sized cow would inflict on the cars zooming by at 50+ miles per hour.

After a few minutes the nice lady and I decided that she should go and see if she could find out who owned the cow.  She left me there and promised to hurry.  The cow at this time was pretty insistent that she WAS going to get to the grass on the other side, and made sure to try my reflexes and patience at every opportunity.  I can't say I blame her, if my only pleasure in life was eating grass, I would have wanted to try that grass too.

So the fun really began.  I had parked my car about 150 yards up the road and hoped that my hazard lights would be at least a little help in getting the cars to slow down and not hit me or the cow.  I guess I assumed to much.  No one slowed down much, no one stopped to help.  There were a large number of "rubber necks" all of which got a baffled look from me, and the cow truthfully.

After waiting for about 15 minutes I decided that the owner could not be found and that I needed more support than the wide-eyed looks I was getting from the "rubber necks".  It was starting to get dark and I know what it is like to chase cows in the dark.  I decided to call the sheriff and hope that they could contact the owner.

The dispatcher was extremely friendly and understanding, she placed a few calls and sent a deputy out to help me.  In the interim a neighbor and his sons took pity on me and decided to help.  The deputy arrived and after a little fence removal and some major persuasion we coaxed the cow back into the fence where she belonged.  The farmer showed up shortly after our success in re-capturing the cow and thanked us for our help.

Of course I was glad to help, the cow could have seriously injured someone or could have been injured herself.  The farmer in either instance would have been out a decent amount of money, time, and trouble.

The thing that I could not help but be aggravated about was the dozens of cars that drove by, gawking but not helping.  The numerous neighbors that arrived home only to get their mail and go into their homes, not offering help or even responding to my loud requests of information to who owned the feed lot.  I could not help but wonder what they would have wanted if the roles were reversed.

I did nothing special, I just took an hour out of my day to help a neighbor I did not know.  That is what we are all supposed to do.  The help was not glamorous, I did not spend any money, nor did I even exchange names with the farmer.  I can't help but wonder was that the problem?  Are we so busy in our lives that we cannot stop and help someone else in need, unless we get something in return?

I know I am no where near perfect with helping others, there are many times that I see someone on the side of the road and I do not stop.  With most people owning cellphones now most of the time I assume the problem is under control.  This experience opened my eyes, I no longer will assume all is fine. I will offer help and if it is not needed maybe the offer will still brighten someones day.