Image Transcription
(A 4Chan “green-text”, titled “Altruism”, with a close-up photograph of a turtle on the pavement)
Riding bike through town
See something strange on the side of the road
Decide to stop and investigate
It’s a turtle tucked into its shell
Hold finger in front of shell
Turtle pokes its head out, sniffs finger, and then retreats back into it’s shell
It’s a hot day, and there are no bodies of water nearby
There’s a river a few miles away, decide to take the turtle there
Ride bike with one hand while holding the turtle
People look at me strangely
Don’t care, the turtle is all that matters
Turtle pokes its head out when going fast downhill
Probably the fastest the turtle has ever gone
Finally reach the river
Set the turtle on the shore under some shade
After about 10 seconds the turtle crawls into the water
Looks back at me before submerging and swimming away
Feel more emotion in that moment than I have in the last few years
Despite my mistakes and shortcomings, a creature’s life was made better by my existence
Is using our time to help others the real answer?
Not to be that person, but you should not move turtles, it will literally kill them. They live in the same 1-2 mile radius all their life.
Im sure it absolutely can, but why would it be a problem if theyre in the same biome. Also this is a kid on a bike, they probably didnt travel a mile
I once freed a dragonfly from a spiderweb and felt this way.
I have no illusions about me being a “good” person, but I never leave any creature in need to suffer if I can help it, and that includes everything, even insects. This has resulted in us adopting quite a few “rescue” animals and to be honest, the love and loyalty you get from them is on a completely other level still. They KNOW.
I enjoy alien abduction stories too.
You’re in a desert, walking along when you look down and see a tortoise. It’s crawling toward you. You reach down and flip it over on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over. But it can’t. Not with out your help. But you’re not helping. Why is that?