When we hope each other

November 11, 2011 5:27 PM

Is there a running list of Ask MeFi posts where we worked together to help strangers in serious trouble? What posts would you put on that list?

I poked around the wiki and the archives but couldn't find it, if it exists.

I'm thinking about things along these lines:
http://ask.metafilter.com/154334/Help-me-help-my-friend-in-DC
http://ask.metafilter.com/200460/She-never-gets-fucked-hard-enough

posted by thewestinggame to MetaFilter-Related at 5:27 PM (22 comments total)

I mean, I know full well what the actual content of the question is in the link titled "She never gets fucked hard enough."

That doesn't stop this from being incredibly funny.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 5:50 PM on November 11, 2011 [13 favorites]

This is a search for: loquacious+hospital. The initial thread is at the bottom.

I was homeless when that happened. If I had to go back on the street right after the hospital or couch surfing it probably would have killed me.

So far the end result is that I've been housed and in one place and in my own little apartment for the first time in my life, adult or otherwise.

I'm still struggling with depression in a huge way especially since the sun has gone out here in Seattle, but I'm still better off than I was two years ago.
posted by loquacious at 5:58 PM on November 11, 2011 [20 favorites]

Help! My door knob is stuck and I'm trapped in my room!
posted by puritycontrol at 6:22 PM on November 11, 2011 [12 favorites]

Rescuing someone from New Orleans after Katrina: I NEED HELP.
posted by ColdChef at 7:03 PM on November 11, 2011 [2 favorites]

I still feel like crying when I read that Katrina thread.
posted by ColdChef at 7:04 PM on November 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

I needed pickles once and someone FedExed some to me. Does that count?

It was kind of an emergency.
posted by bondcliff at 7:24 PM on November 11, 2011

A quick search for the "emergency" tag in AskMe suggests that emergencies are often subjective.

The Katrina, OWS and Russians threads spring to mind, but I'm sure there are likely others that I've forgotten about.
posted by arcticseal at 8:04 PM on November 11, 2011

Pickles are very serious business. It's a well known fact that Hitler killed himself only after accidentally breaking the last remaining jar of his favorite spiced gherkins during an amphetamine-fueled tantrum.
posted by loquacious at 8:06 PM on November 11, 2011

Ah, that famed Vlassic Führer.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 8:22 PM on November 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

MeFites did some amazing work for the DC-area woman in this AskMe, "help".
posted by argonauta at 8:52 PM on November 11, 2011 [3 favorites]

It wasn't an Ask post, so it wouldn't go on your list, but I thought emergency diaper delivery was pretty cool.
posted by lwb at 12:10 AM on November 12, 2011 [2 favorites]

These answers got roommates from being upset and awkward to cuddling on the couch in real time. Notable also for Greg Nog's hilarious comment in the related MeTa:
HUMAN FEMALE IS IN HER ROOM WITH LEAKING EYES. WHAT FLOWER MUST MORBO KILL AND BRING TO HER IN ORDER TO MAKE HUMAN FEMALE EYES STOP LEAKING.
posted by Jorus at 2:27 AM on November 12, 2011 [3 favorites]

The urgency in this one is palpable, and I'm still shaken by it.
posted by Wolfdog at 3:50 AM on November 12, 2011 [8 favorites]

If you're ever in a pickle (or vice versa), just let us know.
posted by pracowity at 4:26 AM on November 12, 2011

While not the result of an AskMe—the initial incident went out via IRC and Twitter—this instance of MeFites helping a MeFite in need deserves mention.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 4:45 AM on November 12, 2011

There was the lost grandma - and though he didn't personally find her, fake to the rescue. Again.
posted by likeso at 6:45 AM on November 12, 2011

Help! My door knob is stuck and I'm trapped in my room!
posted by John Cohen at 7:58 AM on November 12, 2011

Recently, Mediocre had some trouble, but even though he made it to the hospital, the word's still out.
posted by cmoj at 6:28 PM on November 12, 2011

I don't mean to over-contemplate this plate of beans, but I think what you're really interested in is dramatic trouble. We help each other all the time with things that while they may not be life or death, are super seriously big issues to the OP. I absolutely suck out loud at search, but I remember an infant on breastfeeding strike who needed to learn to finger feed RFN, a couple of "having second thoughts about date / childcare person supposed to turn up in 39 minutes" posts, some last minute wedding jitters (one I recall as being, like, very last minute!), and a lot of MeFites who rushed to comfort fellow members in type and in person following deaths. Serious but ordinary, I guess - I like those posts, too!
posted by DarlingBri at 11:06 PM on November 12, 2011 [3 favorites]

Can someone help me with this one? I remember an incredible thread where someone was to visit the country where their grandfather lived prior to the Holocaust, and a MeFite who is connected to Holocaust resources found the exact house address as well as the docs grandpa filed to exit the country. That's always been the best of Metafilter to me.
posted by arcticwoman at 12:34 PM on November 14, 2011

This? Also impressively answered in 32 minutes.
posted by radicarian at 1:02 PM on November 14, 2011 [2 favorites]

That's the one! Also, you impressively answered my question in exactly 32 minutes. Well done.
posted by arcticwoman at 2:02 PM on November 14, 2011