Unless you've been living in a cave, you've probably heard about the incident in Hartford, CT, where a CCTV camera caught a man being hit by a car, which then fled the scene, and the apparent apathy and inaction of bystanders. There's been a lot of talk on the news and the blogosphere about urban apathy, but city blogger Heather Brandon has written a very thoughtful post over at Urban Compass about the incident and the aftermath.
She raises the point that a lot of people just don't know what to do in an emergency, which is doubtless true. The drivers who went around him after the accident quite possibly didn't see what had happened, and were more concerned about traffic on the busy street. A couple of people did, in fact, dial 911 right after it happened.
It is true that a majority, if not most, people just don't want to get involved. Witness the countless people who pass the homeless every day without acknowledging their existence, let alone offering a helping hand. Our society is more concerned with self-gratification than with philanthropy. Apathy is, indeed, rampant.
It's something that I'm working on in myself, and I can only hope that more people share my aspirations. Go read Heather's post, and see if you can't exorcise some of your own apathy.
1 comment:
Your photo reminded me of this blog from a fellow Baltimoron who likes to chronicle something similar.
http://bagsintrees.blogspot.com/
I, too, remember the PSAs reminding us not to pollute/litter. I've been known to run through a parking lot chasing after a receipt that's blown from my hand. I'm completely disgusted when I drive down the street and see people drop their litter into storm drains that feed directly into the Chesapeake Bay. I'm tempted to pull over and yell at them, but in Baltimore, that could get me killed. I miss the old days in Geneseo...
Geralyn
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