I generally agree with you, but then where would the world be if people didn't go out of their way in both asking for, and providing help.

This is a new experience for me, being the first time I've felt compelled to take my assistance to the level of asking others to help if they can and it's certainly changed my perspective a bit on the whole topic.

If you felt your friends were in a situation where they really needed the help, I hope you would reach out to as many people as you could to get them the help they need.

Why involve HN? Why involve anyone in anything? It's a community of generally good people that I'm involved in that may have the means of offering a little assistance to someone in need.

Maybe someday you'll find yourself in a position of wanting to help someone, but not being able to do it all yourself.