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Original poster

What would you do if you saw a sign in a window saying "help me"

261 replies

Lois345 · 21/10/2020 11:48

I saw a sign in a window today saying "help me." It was one of those neat black framed boards that you can write on by moving little white plastic letters around. It was facing the street. Would you call the police? Do you think they would respond to this? I live in Edinburgh, if that makes any difference (maybe someone here with local knowledge of the police)

OP posts:
StuckInTheMiddleAndBoo · 21/10/2020 15:22

@Dottyspottybattyfatty

well done OP, if in doubt ring the cops and let then check. If it was a kid then lesson learned for the kid but it is always, always best to check. I was saw a bloke grabbing a woman on the street late a night and picking her up- looked like they were together - but I shouted and asked her if she was alright. He said we're fine but I ignored him and asked her again. She was. Turns out it was just a young couple, tipsy, mucking about. But as they went off she turned back and said' Thank you though, thank you for checking.'
Very well done for checking. I remember when I was newly 18 and being harassed by a random man in a long coat. A couple of men crossing a road some distance away shouted something akin to, 'Oi! What are you doing?' at him and he ran off. Always wish I'd had the presence of mind to say thank you to them. People like you make the world a safer place.
serialreturner · 21/10/2020 15:23

You did the right thing. Relevant authorities informed and let them get on with your job.

If it is a joke, they'll get a bollocking.

MJMG2015 · 21/10/2020 15:23

@Wherehavetheteletubbiesgone

It's halloween so nothing! There are lots of then now round here.
It's not Halloween for ages yet

'Help me' is scary not spooky.

Definitely call the police. Better get some students 'told' than risk not helping someone who needs it.

MJMG2015 · 21/10/2020 15:25

@nitsandwormsdodger

Shocked that everyone using the police rather than knocking on door
You could get someone killed. You have no right of entry etc
Hopeisnotastrategy · 21/10/2020 15:32

justasking111

In our idyllic little conservation village where folk are very public spirited we had a case of the most horrendous ongoing abuse of a mother and daughter, who lived in a very nice 5 bedroom house. No one suspected a thing, and I was only able to winkle it out of the lady gradually when things started not to add up.

Please don't assume you can always tell what's going on behind closed doors, and especially in an odd situation like this. You may unwittingly place yourself or others in danger. Abusers can appear very charming and be very manipulative, if they weren't no one would start a relationship with them.

MJMG2015 · 21/10/2020 15:37

Well done 🌷

If it was me I'd follow it up. They might not tell you what happened, but they might say whether it was a prank or someone needing help.

Let's hope if they needed help they have now been helped

MJMG2015 · 21/10/2020 15:38

@Donkeeey

I'm so sorry to read about your childhood )((hug))) 🌷

BashfulClam · 21/10/2020 15:47

Call the police, people ignore things all the time thinking it’s pranks or people filling around but it’s better to check. A woman was brutally killed and raped in Glasgow and she was heard screaming and shouting ‘stop it!’ People heard it and dismissed it, maybe if they’d called the police she could have been helped. A man actually said to his girlfriend ‘if we hear about a murder tomorrow then we’ve just heard it happening!’ He did nothing.

If that had been me I would probably have shouted ‘are you ok? Do you need the police?’ If it was silent in response I’d shout ‘I’m calling the police’ in case the person was being silenced by an attacker. It might have made the person who did it give up and run off. I lived nearby and thought about her often, she was tiny and was snatched getting out of her car and dragged into a park.

incognitomum · 21/10/2020 16:04

Good update

safariboot · 21/10/2020 16:20

Good to hear you called.

My guess is genuine situation, or small child in no danger. The wording's not what I'd expect from student signs.

Donkeeey · 21/10/2020 16:32

@MJMG2015
Thanks for the hugs, I've not let it affect my adult life really, but it does give me the chills when people are so complacent and sure they know their neighbours and know they are living around nice people because they really, really don't know and they really, really may well not be...!

CassieNightingale · 21/10/2020 16:34

Of course you call 111 and they do a wellfare check. Why do you even need to wonder

CassieNightingale · 21/10/2020 16:36

111 😂

TwoLegsBadFourLegsGreedy · 21/10/2020 16:40

Please call the police.

I've been DV free for just over a year now, and I used to leave random "clues" around, hoping that someone would somehow understand them.

I'd call myself by my full name if I was canceling an appointment because I was too bruised to attend (I never answer to my full name- even professionals get asked to call me a shortened version of it

I've done the "pizza" thing too, but I mouthed "help" at the delivery guy

I wrote it in steam on the window of the room he locked me in for three days

Please call the police. You may save a life.

Angelina82 · 21/10/2020 16:41

It’s more than likely a grounded teenager messing about or something like that but you definitely did the right thing by informing the police just incase. Well done OP.

Aridane · 21/10/2020 16:55

I would assume a joke

MillieVanilla · 21/10/2020 16:56

@Hopeisnotastrategy

justasking111

In our idyllic little conservation village where folk are very public spirited we had a case of the most horrendous ongoing abuse of a mother and daughter, who lived in a very nice 5 bedroom house. No one suspected a thing, and I was only able to winkle it out of the lady gradually when things started not to add up.

Please don't assume you can always tell what's going on behind closed doors, and especially in an odd situation like this. You may unwittingly place yourself or others in danger. Abusers can appear very charming and be very manipulative, if they weren't no one would start a relationship with them.

Yep no one knows what goes on behind closed doors I lived away from home at 16, at 17 I met a guy and we started seeing each other. Outwardly to our group and the other people on my floor of my block of flats we were this lovely young couple, so in love, he had a wonderful family who had taken in this waif and stray with abusive parents. He was hot on the PDAs in front of people.

He was also a vicious, vile, manipulative abuser who no doubt saw me coming as a child of mental abuse and thought "nice one, already prepped for domination".
He removed my friends one by one.
His mum was vile too, it wasn't her boys fault he threw things at me, or burned me with water from the kettle, or knocked me downstairs, it was my fault. I wound him up, or I spoke out of turn, or I had no right laughing at his mates joke.

For over a year he would batter me, never where it could be seen. I went from a size 10 to a size 6 as he would with hold food, he called me fat and ugly, he cut up any clothes he didn't like.
One night, he knocked my head off a doorframe, knocked me clean out. My neighbor heard and knocked so he went and told her I had fainted.
Luckily she didn't believe him and he was arrested. He was only cautioned unfortunately but I never saw him again.
Trust me, if something looks wrong, call.

Strawberrypancakes · 21/10/2020 17:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Thelnebriati · 21/10/2020 17:03

I'd be worried about slavery or DV, there's no way I'd knock. Let the police look into it.

SniffyMiffy · 21/10/2020 17:05

I would have knocked I think. I have an elderly neighbour who does it now and again, hoping I will spot it from across the road.

Shelleyjelly80 · 21/10/2020 17:12

I have been in this situation before, walked past a bungalow with all the curtains shut and there was a piece of paper with the words 'help us' on the floor underneath the window, rang the police and they went out to do a welfare check, fortunately it turned out that it was the couples grandchildren messing around with silly notes and this one had escaped tidying up! When I spoke to the police they said it was the right thing to do as it could just have easily been something serious. Would not hesitate to do it again.

Bikingbear · 21/10/2020 17:16

@SniffyMiffy

I would have knocked I think. I have an elderly neighbour who does it now and again, hoping I will spot it from across the road.
Its different if you know who is behind the door and message by all means go an see what that issue is. But if it's a complete stranger you have no idea who could open the door to you. If they are abusing their partner they are hardly going to stop because you intervene or tell you - yes l've locked the Mrs in the room.
Beautiful3 · 21/10/2020 17:17

I'm glad you called the police. It may be genuine, even if it's not you'll have peace of mind.

sapnupuas · 21/10/2020 17:27

@TwoLegsBadFourLegsGreedy

Please call the police.

I've been DV free for just over a year now, and I used to leave random "clues" around, hoping that someone would somehow understand them.

I'd call myself by my full name if I was canceling an appointment because I was too bruised to attend (I never answer to my full name- even professionals get asked to call me a shortened version of it

I've done the "pizza" thing too, but I mouthed "help" at the delivery guy

I wrote it in steam on the window of the room he locked me in for three days

Please call the police. You may save a life.

Well done for leaving.

Did any of these things work?

anothersleeplessone · 21/10/2020 17:34

@TwoLegsBadFourLegsGreedy ThanksThanks

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