What would you do if you were on a walk in a park and came upon a man who was being verbally abusive to a woman? Would you try to avert your eyes and quickly pass by? Would you turn around and go the other way? Or would you stop and ask if the woman need help and not leave until she was to safety?
What would you do if you were in a store and the person behind the counter was speaking derogatory racial comments to a customer? Would you leave the store without buying what you came for and just go back later when it was all over? Would you just stand there and wait your turn? Or would you stand up for the person being taunted and refuse to ever bring your business there again?
What would you do if you saw someone who was under the influence of alcohol stumbling and fumbling while trying to getting into a car with their children to drive away? Would you talk yourself out of what you just witnessed and go about your day? Or would you try to stop the person from getting in the car and take their keys away?
These are all scenarios I saw on a Nightline: What would you do? segment. Since then it has made me think about what would I do if I came upon something like this. Would I have the courage to step in and stand up for someone or help someone?
Today I was driving home after spending the morning with my mom and I passed some elementary school kids, 3 girls and 1 boy, walking home from school. It appeared that one of the girls was bullying one of the other girls. I slowed down to get a better look. I thought I saw the girl who was being bullied crying. By this time I was already passing them. I looked in my side mirror and it still appeared the girl was being bullied. I was sad for the girl. Should I stop and help? What if she really isn’t being bullied? Kids aren’t supposed to talked to strangers. What if my stopping would only make the situation worse…for me? Now I was already far enough down the road and the thought of turning around frustrated me. So I kept on going.
My thoughts didn’t go away. The whole way home I wondered if I had made the wrong decision. I should have stopped. It wouldn’t have hurt anything. If it had been nothing, I could have just gotten back in the car and gone home. But if it was something, could I potentially be interfering too much?
What do you think I should have done? What would you do?
Kaydee ~ I LOVE this blog, so entertaining. Before I got to the part where you talked about Nightline, I remembered a CSI NY where the guy interfered with a fight in the park and ended up dead. That probably wouldnt happen to us ~ good food for thought.
Ahhh…that is so hard! I might have stopped. I might not have. When I got into a serious car accident in February, I was furious that the guy right behind me who witnessed the woman pulling out on me just drove right on by, and didn’t help me out. It sucked to know that he was “too busy” about getting to work, or whatever, to stop and help out. It has made me re-think what I would do in a situation like that. One time, I was at the mall and I witnessed this mom in a hallway (near the bathrooms) who was abusing her 6 or so year old son. Literally, smacking his face, calling him horrible words….and I was shaken by it. It haunted me. I turned around and looked back, only to hear the woman curse me out. I just walked away. I still think to this day I should have gotten a police officer in the mall, and I didn’t. I think I’ll be more proactive since that. I hate that type of regret. Good blog