Conflicting Kindness

 I had the pleasure of being a part of an ice fishing derby today. And by pleasure, I mean that, as the treasurer of the club organizing the derby, my attendance was somewhat mandatory. Jokes aside, I did indeed have a good time, even if the only thing that came through my hole was a handful of muskrats looking for some air.

As I spent eight hours in -20℃ weather staring at a ten-inch hole in the ice while fiddling with some rope on a stick waiting for something to happen, I had a lot of time to ponder, thinking of my next blog to write. While I had many ideas that I can now rely on in the future, the big one happened on our drive back.

Shortly after we left the lake, which was approximately 90 minutes from Lethbridge and on the other side of Pincher Creek, a local town, we came across an SUV in the ditch. Even though two trucks were already helping out, the five of us quickly decided to pitch in, as it had been snowing all day and the SUV was pretty stuck. After all, the more able-bodied young adults, the better. Eventually, as other members of our club stopped to also give us a hand and, with the power of some mighty fine towing trucks and some elbow grease, we got the vehicle back on the road. One of my biggest thoughts near the start of this encounter was "hey, this is a pretty solid AOK. I can't wait to write this down." However, another realization donned on both me and my peers as we were getting close to having the SUV back on the road. After interacting with her for that short period of time, the driver appeared to be rather intoxicated.

The first thing we did when we got back onto the road was call the Pincher Creek RCMP detachment and inform them of the driver. As she left before we did, we happened to see her pulled over as we passed through the town, so thankfully the situation was resolved before it had a chance to further escalate. Regardless, the whole ordeal left me with a rather sour taste, and thinking about the broad topic of considering the benefit of the AOK to the other person, something we touched on in IHC.

As this whole event happened only hours ago, it is still fresh on my mind and I have been constantly going back and forth. After talking with my parents, I have decided to accept that yes, helping the  individual out of the ditch is an act of kindness and that calling RCMP was our way of making sure the situation ended as optimally as possible. After all, it was quite the cold day, and a lot of people were driving very recklessly past us during the time. Who knows what may have happened to the driver if we had left her? It is possible that we may have saved her life.

However, I cannot help but be pessimistic about the situation. It is also possible that we could have endangered someone else's life by allowing her back on the road, even if it was for a short period of time. There is a possibility that my act of kindness could have taken someone's life. I mean, sure, it didn't. The situation ended as optimally as possible, as we strived for. But it still could have happened. I do not know how long this pang of guilt I am feeling will continue, but as of right now, it is giving me a lot to think about regarding acts of kindnesses that seem contradictory to the point. I believe the guilt comes from the fact that there may have been a better solution, but I cannot seem to think of one. Leave her in the ditch and let someone else take responsibility for getting her out? Absolutely not. Get her an alternate method back to Lethbridge? She seemed very much against the fact. Needless to say, I find myself in a conundrum with the potential to keep me awake tonight.

Not so much a revelation blog with a lesson learned, but more of a vent I guess? As a selfish request, I would like to hear peoples opinions on the matter, as they may help me figure out what I need to figure out.