UNITED STATES—I want to have this discussion because it is something that concerns me greatly in our society. It seems like as a country we really take on the ‘innocent bystander’ effect. Now let me clearly explain this because I think there might be some confusion with people by what I mean. I’m not referring to someone being the victim of wrong place and wrong time, I’m referring to those who see something terrible and just sit and watch; no intervention.
This is a problem in our country and it’s really a problem when you have people who VIDEO TAPE or whip out that cellphone to record what has transpired. What happened to the notion of people seeing something bad transpire or about to transpire and intervening without a hesitation? That seems like a thing of the past. What I have discovered is that some people are hesitant as a result of they don’t know what might happen if they intervene.
There is that concern of violence, a situation that is already tense becoming more intense, the list goes on and on and I can understand that worry. It is indeed scary and that is something I would not want to be part of if I’m being honest. However, how would you react if you were in a dangerous situation and no one intervened to help you they just sat there and watched? It would leave you bewildered, baffled, speechless and concerned where are society is heading.
I mean I witnessed a viral video of two women attacking a postal worker, a postal worker, over being cut off by the driver or something related to potential stimulus checks in Flint, Michigan. Gosh, postal workers are like lifelines to the American people. They deliver the mail. This postal worker is being brutally attacked by two women, while a group of bystanders just sit there and watches as nobody does anything! The person who recorded the video seemed to think it was funny, delivering sound bites instead of intervening. So I want to ask that person, what if that was your mother, your sister, your daughter, would it be funny then? Of course not.
This dumb notion of people just so quick to grab a cellphone and hit record instead of actually calling for help when it is needed I do understand, I don’t get it America and I never will. This transpires to the violent incident captured on video in New York where an Asian woman was brutally attacked by a man for no apparent reason. The attack was vicious and hard to watch, what’s worse is that you have two innocent bystanders witnessing this attack and not doing anything to intervene.
Hell you don’t have to physically intervene if you’re scared for your life, but scream, yell, call 9-1-1, call the police do something so this person is captured and no one else’s life is placed in danger America. This not looking out for one another as decent human beings I do not and cannot understand. When did this change as a society and why aren’t we doing more not to change it? Has social media become such a presence that we are concerned about going viral or getting likes on a video instead of helping a person or saving a life?
We might think we are ‘Innocent Bystanders,’ but we are not. If we’re in the presence of chaos it should be our goal to diffuse that presence if possible in the safest way possible. If we cannot, then we need to call or get assistance from someone who can. You don’t just sit and watch violence, you intervene to stop it. If someone needs help you don’t just sit and wait thinking someone else will intervene, you do it, it is what most people would call a decent human being.
Written By Jason Jones
