Just a thought because examples of it keep cropping up. Here is what happened today.
The parking lot that I use for work everyday is an utter mess from the non-stop snow storms that we've been getting. As everyone knows we got hit again last night with another foot of it. I got in today and had a little trouble navigating the small lot and getting unstuck once but I finally found a decent spot. The lot attendant had a shovel that I was allowed to use to clear the spot a bit before I actually parked (So that I could get out again at the end of the day)
As I was bringing the shovel back a woman had just came out from inside the adjacent apartment building and was asking the attendant where her car was. Many of the cars were buried under snow so I helped to look for it. After a few seconds we was spotted and I went back to my car to actually park it and get my things.
As I was leaving the lot I saw the same woman with the shovel attempting to dig her car out. Now she was small (Maybe 5'2" or so?) and had one heck of a lot of snow to dig through. I would say it was a good 18 inches of snow with an area of about 6 by 9 feet plus what was on top of the car itself. Her spot was the first one next to the road so the plows had added to the depth. I literally couldn't not offer to help her out, it's just the way I am. If i'm walking in the rain with an umbrella and I see someone getting soaked i'll offer to keep them dry for a little.
So I put my lunch bag and laptop down and went to it. She was very grateful that I was helping and explained that she had asked the lot attendant for help but all he said was that it wasn't his job. I was actually quite puzzled by this for a little and as I was digging I tried to figure out why. Eventually I cleared enough of a path for her to drive out. She was extremely grateful and gave me some very nice compliments
As I walked to the office that burning question came up again.....why hadn't he helped her? Now don't get me wrong I see this attendant every day and he's alright so that really only left one answer....
liability 
. More likely then not his company won't let him help people because of it. To me that's wrong; if you see someone who is in need of help, you help them. Plain and simple. My theory is that if I slip and fall it's my own damn fault for not watching where I was going.
This isn't the first time i've personally seen examples of this. Of course all someone has to do is turn the news on to hear about yet another BS lawsuit being launched purely because of greed.
I'm curious to hear other peoples thoughts on the subject...