I know. I just can't wrap my mind around tat concept. How the **** could they just sit there with that going on and do nothing?
Don't be fooled by my smooth skin. The deepest scars are the ones unseen.
Remember compliments you received, forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how..~ Baz Lurhman.
Letting it get to you - You know what that's called? Being alive. Best thing there is. Being alive right now that's all that counts. ~ Doctor Who "The Doctors Wife" 06.November.2011
I would have done something on the bus. I probably would have attempted to use some of skills I know. Not taking the piss, I've been/shown told what to do in bad situations.
It strikes me as interesting that the times when people intervened was when it was just them (or them and their wife in one case), while the times when no one did anything (the two occasions on the buses) were where there were many people close by who didn't do anything.
And being perfectly honest, I think that I'd find it much easier to intervene if it was just me. If it's just you then you make a split decision and you either help or you don't. If there are other people, you tend to look to them for guidance before you step in. However, if everyone does this then no one steps in. I think there's also something more claustrophobic about being on the bus. If it turns against you, you have no way to escape. You can't just run away.
It strikes me as interesting that the times when people intervened was when it was just them (or them and their wife in one case), while the times when no one did anything (the two occasions on the buses) were where there were many people close by who didn't do anything.
Becasue when you're around other people everyone is convinced that someone else is going to do something.
"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
^ Exactly. It's basic psychology.
It's like that woman in Chicago in the 70s (possibly?) who was stabbed to death. A lot of people reported as hearing her screaming for help, but nobody intervened or called for help because they thought 'somebody else will do it'.
Last edited by Dreaming. : 03-04-2009 at 09:55 AM.
^^ Just echoing Jo really, the 'basic psychology behaviour.
Bystander apathy is very common. People think "someone else will help so i'll just get in the way" or simply believe they'd be of no use.
The case of Kitty Genovese [link if you're interested] is often used to illustrate this effect, [although numbers and facts are seen to have been exaggerated now] where 38 witnesses saw/heard the woman being attacked and did nothing.
There's also the point that people [particularly Britains] these days may remember the case of the guy that shot the man who had repeatedly burgled his home and he was sent to prison whereas the burgler wasn't. - Obviously this is a different type of situation, but individuals may also worry now that their intervention could end up in them commiting some sort of crime - whether in self defence or not - and be in trouble for it?
I'm rambling. I'ma watch the show later.
"Be nice. Think happy thoughts. Champion silver linings. Love all things (not just cute things like babies and kittens) & when you do love - love like they do in power ballads (you know like on a cliff with the wind in your hair and your eyes shut, knowing you'll never know love like this). Watch out for dog poo. Smile at people - even grumpy ones. Remember anything is possible & whatever you do always try to look on the bright side."
There's also the point that people [particularly Britains] these days may remember the case of the guy that shot the man who had repeatedly burgled his home and he was sent to prison whereas the burgler wasn't. -
That's f*cked up. I'm sorry, but how the hell did that happen?
There's also the point that people [particularly Britains] these days may remember the case of the guy that shot the man who had repeatedly burgled his home and he was sent to prison whereas the burgler wasn't. - Obviously this is a different type of situation, but individuals may also worry now that their intervention could end up in them commiting some sort of crime - whether in self defence or not - and be in trouble for it?
I think this an important factor in why many don't physically intervene. They fear the consequences.
I haven't watched the show, but in terms of intervening when a crime is in progress or if it's threatened, no i wouldn't intervene. Aside from being female, vulnerable etc, i'm rarely without our little boy and his safety is paramount. I would however ring 999 as soon as possible and have done on several occassions. My husband on the other hand would intervene, for those that know him, it's not surprising.
18.11 28.4 6.5 22.31
My heart just needs his smile, that i can't forget, like so melancholy a kiss.
Oh and that couple that talked, about seeing that guy being kicked in the head.. I swear I saw the woman today - if it wasn't her then she has a twin - and I wanted to say 'you're awesome!' but if it wasn't her, i'd look weird. :P
I have become mixed about helping people. I used to do it without thinking but not so much anymore. A few years ago I was in a pub that was closing (I was friends with the the owner) when a drunk guy known to be a drug dealer sprayed bleach at a girl tending bar. She screamed "Leave me alone!" and I went over to the guy - who tried to hit me with a bottle. I threw him into a wall and then when he got up to come at me with a chair I jumped him and slammed his head into floor. He stopped moving and I heard his girlfriend scream when she went over to look at him. The staff yelled at me to leave before cops came and I did. I left thinking maybe I killed bugger and waited for cops to come arrest me. As it turned out the guy lived but his ear was mostly off and had to be sown back (he hit radiator when I threw him).
The kicker after all this though was that the girl latter denied screaming after being sprayed with bleach (she was afraid of losing her job for letting people get out of hand). Since I also had a knife pulled on me when I stopped a guy from beating his girlfriend (I bashed him too) I know how these things can get out of hand and make for larger probs. Now if a person is really in physical danger I would do something but when I see a seedy couple in a tiff (and most of the time the girl I see getting roughed up is as trashy as her lowlife bf) I couldn't care less if they killed each other. I did save an old man from drowning in a river and a 10 month old from choking and those were more fun.
that bus thing is really bad!
to be fair, i wouldn't single handedly intervene because i'm 16, not very strong and would stand about as much chance as the girl herself, but i'd try to get someoen else to intervene or something! jesus.
There will always be a happy ending. If its not happy then its not yet the end.
I've never been in a situation where I could have helped someone like that, but I'd like to think I would do something. That poor girl on that bus. If one person would have stood up to them, I bet others would have joined in =/
