In the last four weeks I've been involved in a couple of incidents that have been really bugging me.
First incident happened as I was riding home from work one evening. I came upon the scene of an accident. Must have only happened within the last few minutes, as there were no paramedics, police etc. There was a crowd of people gathered around, just watching and traffic was crossing over the debris, without any hesitation at all. There were two women standing next to the car that had been involved in the accident, ( I didn't notice any other vehicle), both on their mobiles( I assume calling for help).
From where I was, I noticed a figure slumped in the drivers seat. No one seemed to be doing anything about this, so I stopped to help. To cut a long story short, the woman in the car will live. The paramedics, police and fire services arrived within ten minutes, at which point I stepped back, got on my bike and rode away.
The following morning, I was discussing the incident with work colleagues and ALL of them said they wouldn't get involved. In fact, one of them hadn't been too far behind me and when she realised there'd been an accident, turned her car round and took a different route!! The reasons my colleagues gave for not wanting to be involved is that you get no thanks, and sometimes victims can be violent.
OK. I can almost understand it if someone with no medical training whatsoever walks away from an accident, but for someone in the profession, to come out with such rubbish, really shocked me. One of my colleagues said she never wore her uniform in public so if she were to come across an accident, she could just walk away and no one would expect her to help.
I wasn't in uniform, so technically, I could have just rode past, but I'd never be able to live with myself. So what, if you don't get a 'thank you'. In my opinion, its about helping another human being in need. Stopping to help could mean the difference between life and death and even if someone has no first aid training, just holding someones hand and talking to them is better than not getting involved!!
If the professionals are reluctant to get involved, what hope is there for the rest? And how can anyone just stand around and gawp. I guess its human curiosity, but I think if you can't offer any assistance then just move on. I'd like to think, if I were ever involved in a road accident, someone would stop and help me, rather than stand around and watch me, possibly die!!
Second incident happened in my local bank as I was patiently waiting my turn in a queue. One of the bank tellers became free and I was next in line. Before I could even take a step forward, a man jumped the queue from behind me and went up to the counter. I went up to him, and politely pointed out that he'd jumped the queue. The man opened his mouth, and out spewed the most vile racial profanity I've EVER heard.
I was so shocked and so not expecting such a reaction, I burst into tears right there!! In hindsight, I'm furious with myself for giving the moron the satisfaction of knowing that he'd upset me. But what gets me most is that no one did or said anything at all, through out this whole tirade!! Not only did the teller continue to serve this man, but another teller became free and called out to me. I went across to her and all she said was " Hiya love. What can we do for you today?"!!!!! So I was being served (sobbing uncontrollably), and the moron was being served and still nothing was said or done.
I didn't expect members of the public in the bank to step in. The man was behaving quite agressively, so I can understand their reluctance, but surely the bank staff could have done something?! Like refuse to serve the man? The man left the bank first, all the while having a go at me. When my transaction was complete, the teller said to me, " sorry about that love. Have a good day." And that was the end of that.
When I left the bank, I was petrified the moron might be waiting for me, I stood outside the door for a good while before I felt it was safe to leave. Thankfully, he wasn't.
So both these incidents have been bugging me. I realise that nowadays people are very hesitant about getting involved, but surely there are times when one just has to??
Right, I'm off to do some deep breathing exercises now...
