I'll lead with this and you can read the tale if you like:
This old man, Randy O'Conner, would rather see a person die than to lend them a hand.
So, the story goes like this; I'm a new member of a Veteran motorcycle association and we were scheduled to participate in a 9-11 ceremony at Bonanza, OR this morning. Unfortunately, there was some miscommunication between my mentor and me. I got a text that we were supposed to meet at Walmart in K Falls at 0600, I was 5 minutes late and nobody was there. I figured they already left and were on their way so I went and got gas (in my motorcycle) and figured I'd catch up with them. Well, when I got to Bonanza, I couldn't find anyone so I thought maybe they stopped at O'Conners for breakfast (I came from the other direction so I hadn't gone by it on the way in.)
Now, let me mention here... it's 32.8 degrees outside, I know this because my bike has a thermometer. It wasn't that cold in K Falls and silly me forgot to check what the temp would be in Bonanza (nobody's fault but my own). I was wearing warm clothes and shoes and had the foot heaters and hand heaters but, nevertheless, it's still 32 degrees and 32 is well... it's freezing. And I was really cold by the time I got to O'Conners. Now, just at the time I got there, there was an old man coming out of the restaurant, so I asked him if it was open. He said it opens at 8, I said thank you, he said, that's 45 minutes from now. Okay, thanks. I'm not familiar with the area, I know there is a gas station over in Bonanza but I didn't see any open signs when I passed through. Besides, by this time, I was shivering so hard that I'm pretty sure that had I gotten back on my bike to go back to town, I'd have crashed. I wasn't willing to take a chance.
Needless to say, my mc pals weren't there so I called a friend to come get me, I was just too damn cold to function. So, here I am, shivering like I have parkinson's, hoping to God that sun would come up faster. The old man (from earlier) comes out the back door of the restaurant, looks at me, unloads some stuff from his van and goes back into the restaurant.
About 10 minutes later, a lady pulls up to the back of the restaurant, looks at me and goes through the back door. And then there's nothing, just me, the birds, and the slow sun for the next 30 minutes.
Now, I don't know how many of you have been so cold that when you finally start to warm up you begin to convulse. Well, it's just a normal bodily function.
What isn't normal is that two people from the area would rather see a person die of hypothermia than ask them in to keep warm. It wasn't as if I wanted breakfast, just warmth. Why didn't I just ask to be let in..., because honestly, I didn't think of it. Did I mention that I was really cold? I was just waiting for my friend and wondering how bad the comms had been. But I do know this, after my friend got there and I warmed up in his car, I thought of how neither of them offered me warmth, by way of hot coffee, a warm shelter, a warm car. So I decided to go in and ask them why they left me out there to freeze. You know what that old man said, he said I should have gone to the gas station. You mean the one that was closed? Yeah, "you're not my responsibility," he said. "You're stupid for riding out there in this weather," he says.
Now, I'm not saying you shouldn't go there and I'm not saying you should feel sorry for me because I'm a Vet and I'm not saying that I didn't make my own mistakes regarding my apparel, but what I am saying is this.... do you want to support someone who doesn't give a shit about a freezing person outside in the cold? I mean, is this the society that we have become? What if it was you? Does this attitude belong here?
New Note 9/15/2016: Come to find out... I'm not the only one who has a run-in with this guy and thinks he's a jerk. It seems to be common knowledge among the folks in Bonanza. Hmmmm. read more