I was
driving my car the other afternoon in my new hometown of Salem, Oregon.
It was a pleasant sunny day and to
sprinkle some more cheer I was with my daughter. It was wonderful. A
sunny day and my favorite person, I couldn't ask for anything more! The
next thing I noticed there was not one but two police cars going racing by...the
traffic slowed to a halt...I felt sick. I knew something was wrong deep
inside, but I was unsure of what. Then I found out. There was a man who
had been hit by a car, and he had gone through the windshield. He was in serious shape. I
tried, after the traffic picked up, to drive by as quick as I could so
my daughter didn't have to witness the broken pieces of flesh and the unconscious man just laying in the middle
of the street. She did. So did I.
Something didn't seem right. Then it hit me. Everyone, including me,
were just driving right by. It seemed really wrong. This guy is
laying there possibly dying and we are all too damn horrified and busy to stop???
What the f%@k is that? I remember when I was little. If there was an
accident, people would be gatherered left and right. You had a hard
time getting a view of the accident due to the sea of bodies that
constituted the concerned audience. You were able to ask any one of those people what happened and they would know. Now it seems 2 or 3 people might
look on for a few moments before departing. It just felt and seemed
wrong. The kind of wrong that made me feel like I needed to vomit. I
wish we weren't all so busy and thirsty and in need of e-mails
and exercise so we can stop.....AND CARE! I think everything is moving so fast with all of this technology that we might have forgotten to slow down just long enough to remember that we share the planet with other humans. They are not an application.
You make a good point. Next time I see someone stalled on the middle of the road I'll offer to push.
ReplyDeleteI think this follows a general trend of people shutting down and looking out for themselves. I think we are overstimulated by technology and under-stimulated with human emotional intimacy. This shows up in many ways in our new world, many of them sad or sickening, as you pointed out.
ReplyDeleteThis makes me think of the different schools of thought regarding injuries during recess. I used to encourage and give jobs to the concerned onlookers when another child would fall down and get hurt. I'd verbally reinforce how their classmate appreciated that they were showing they cared.
ReplyDeleteThen one day I was told that we need to train the children to get an adult when someone is injured, but not to hang around after an adult was present. "They don't need to stand around gawking."
While I understand where the teacher is coming from, I believe it's part of learning empathy and that it's our job to lead them through that.
I'm an RN and have had the privilege of being the "first-responder" at a number of traffic accidents, although (thankfully) none as serious as the one you describe. I've also had the experience of sowing to identify myself as an RN and offer assistance to law enforcement and EMS personnel and have felt relieved when they said "no thanks".
ReplyDeleteWhile Good Samaritan laws are in place, I think some are afraid of being sued. Still others are just not sure *what* to do, or assume "Real help is on the way,,,"
I like to think the actual percentage of "horrible people who just rubber neck and don't offer help" is pretty low.
My buddy Juan came up on an accident in CA.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ksby.com/news/former-firefighter-and-action-news-photographer-save-driver-from-burning-wreck-that-killed-six-others/
That's an amazing and heartwarming story.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I also choose not to stop out of courtesy because I don't know that I would want a lot of curiousity seekers gawking at me without really helping. Sometimes I feel like I'd just be in the way and would be acting like the accident was "entertainment". I think its a fine line. If you can be of help, certainly stop. If there is already plenty of help, then I, personally, feel like a gawker.
ReplyDelete