Monday, 23 November 2009
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Good Samaritans: Are They Becoming Less Common?
A couple of days ago I was in a Costco store, when I heard some talk that disrupted the usual customer babble. I turned around and saw a man laying on the concrete floor. There were a few customers with their shopping baskets observing him from a safe distance.When it became clear that everyone was just going to leave the man lying on the floor, I traversed the long shopping aisle to ask him what was going on.
It turned out that he had fainted (a possible stroke) and that he was in great pain. Having been trained in CPR, I immediately called 911 after ascertaining that he was breathing well, and was conscious and coherent. The employees then came on the scene. I handed my cell phone to one of them so he could get a paramedic on the scene as soon as possible.
I could tell that the employees did not like a non-Costco citizen taking control of the situation. I offered to back off. Yet they did nothing to provide comfort for the poor man lying on the cold concrete, so I told some of the employees to get towels and pillows. In the mean time I gave the man the shirt off my back and put it under his head.
One of the employees gave me a dirty look so I walked away, but I came back a minute later to check on the poor man. He was still destitute, and the Costco guy insisted that I take my shirt back.
The girls finally arrived with pillow and towels. I took a couple of towels and put them underneath him and over him, and one of the girls put a pillow under the man's head. I instructed the employees that the cold concrete would probably suck the life out of the man.
The poor man indicated that he wanted to talk to his wife. The workers did nothing, so I got hold of the man's cell phone and asked him for his wife's number. He was talking to his wife in less than a minute.
The story of the Good Samaritan is so common. Yet with this one situation, I saw how hard and cruel American society is becoming.
People don't want to become involved. They want someone else to take care of things. Even the store authorities got irritated at me for taking command as they just stood there and watched a poor man while he lay freezing on a cold concrete floor.
What would you have done in this situation? Do you have a personal Good Samaritan story? What do you think these stories say about society?
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- From: fallingraindrop@xanga
- Name: Cheri
- About Me: Life has only just begun.
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Comments (14)
I think law suits scare the willingness-to-help out of people. "If I stop to help you, I might mess up. If I mess up, you might sue me. So, I'll leave you there." I believe the mentality of law suits comes from our narrow pursuit of individuals rights, which has made us enemies of each other. That is, the politics of the sovereignty of the individual (i.e., liberalism) is really starting to catch up to us in a dangerous way.
I often stop by stalled cars on the road and use my AAA membership to help them, if possible. I've met many wonderful people this way too.Considering I have a lot of first aid (EMT-type) experience, I would have helped in that capacity. I would have checked what vital signs I could without equipment (and kept monitoring them). I would have asked a few questions about his medical history so that's one less thing the medics and EMTs would have to do when arriving and would have made sure he was still doing well as we're wating on medical attention. I wouldn't back off when the clerks seemed irritated. The man needs help and leaving is called abandonment. I would explain to the Costco people that I'm simply making sure the man doesn't go into shock or anything crazy happens. It's just a preventative measure.
I would have also let him call his wife as you did.
Often people don't want to help because they think "oh, someone else will do it" or "oh, what can I do!? I'm not helpful." I think it's interesting that the Costco people got upset that you helped - maybe it's a liability for them if you hurt him? I don't know. Also, that's another reason people often don't help - they're afraid of screwing something up and then getting sued.
I'm certified in CPR and First Aid, so stopping to help the man would have been the first thing I would have done. I get people being afraid to get involved because they might get in trouble, but I am dumb-founded at being mean to someone who is helping. I would never dream of stopping someone else from helping another person.
I always stop to help but I know why people don't and sadly it's understandable. They are afraid. Plain and simple. They are either afraid that they don't know enough to help or they are afraid that they will get blamed if anything goes wrong. They are right too, if you help someone there is a good chance that you could get sued or maybe even get a disease. You may also be called in later to testify if related lawsuits come up. It may seem selfish to put your own safety / security before the health and well being of a stranger but some people don't look at it that way. Some have even told me I am selfish for stopping to help someone because by doing so I'm putting my family at risk for disease/lawsuits. I can't control what others do but as long as I'm alive I will continue to help whenever I can.
Most states now have Good Samaritan laws that protect anyone that tries to help someone in need like the situation that you described, but not a lot of people know that. If you are trained in CPR or First Aid and you come across something like this, as long as you are operating within your training you can't be sued if something does go wrong.
Having been trained in First Aid and CPR, and having been on the other end (when a family member or I needed help), I would definitely have jumped in. When my grandmother fainted in a store, the employees were really helpful, calling an ambulance and bringing washcloths/towels/pillows from the store. I was really thankful that they didn't just abandon us.
And I'm sure that the gentleman you helped will be really grateful, too. Good job.
I was church shopping a while back. I was in the LA area and there are many Catholic Churches from which to choose. I went to the poor church where I lived. And then I went to the rich church down by the beach.
The rich people were so much more loving, happy and enthusiastic about their faith. The poor people were dutiful but distant.
Your Costco experience doesn't bode well for the middle and lower classes that comprise the heart and soul of our society. You, a wealthy stranger, had heart and compassion and actually stepped in when it would have been so easy to say, "Low life down, let the cretins take care of themselves."
The lower classes, preoccupied with themselves simply looked on like cows.
What's happening to America?
I just took a social psychology exam like 10 minutes ago, hah, so all I can think of is this experiment they did about the Good Samaritan parable. Some seminary students were assigned to give a presentation about the Good Samaritan parable in another building. Some of the students were told they had time constrictions to get there and others were told they had plenty of time until they began. On the way to the building, the experimenters had a man lie on the ground and act sick. Overwhelmingly, the people who were in a rush often ignored him, despite being on their way to give a presentation on that very story.
There's also the bystander effect, in which people are less likely to help a person where there are many others around. People just start to think to themselves, "Someone else will do it." Naturally, this doesn't apply to everyone, because personality-wise there are certainly people who are helpful and take control. But generally, this happens a lot and there's so many experiments that show that people's reaction to emergency decreases significantly if there's lots of people around. There was one experiment we studied in which the scientists put some subjects on a conference call with many people, or keep it one-on-one. One of the people on the phone goes on to fake an epileptic seizure. The more people that are on the phone at the time, the longer it took for anyone to seek help. But when it was one-on-one, the response was immediate. People diffuse the responsibility to act on others. It's really unfortunate.
But religion is shown to promote helping behavior. :D
I have not discovered that for myself. I have been in several car accidents, and people would always stop and help me. I have walked down the street and seen a homeless man collapse on the other side, and immediately, people were at his side, calling 911, and trying to make him comfortable on the sidewalk. Whenever I see anyone in distress, I help them. I suppose perhaps these things happen in larger communities, something I haven't been a part of for very long.
@Shy___Away@xanga - I have walked down the street and seen a homeless man collapse on the other side, and immediately, people were at his side, calling 911, and trying to make him comfortable on the sidewalk.
That is very touching, very hopeful!
I think what you did was incredible. To step up and take initiative and helping out a complete stranger amidst a chaotic scene as Costco can be. Think about it, clearly God placed you in the right location at His perfect timing. So just doing something, to be used by God in such a manner, you should feel honored, though the glory all being His. I mean a stroke is no joke (not to rhyme on purpose..) and with the prior medical knowledge you had only helped to prevent further damage to the man. On the other hand, the behaviors of the Costco employees was indefinitely disgusting. Cruel people disgust me.
Our country's culture is extremely self-serving... it's all about getting what we want, becoming what we want, being with who we want (at a given time), and screw anyone or anything that gets in our way.
The idea of how to care for the gentleman probably never came into the minds of the people and workers around him... they knew how to do their jobs, or what they needed from the store, but dealing with another person's problem? That just wasn't on the itinerary for the day.
Another sad thing is that we feel the need to be "certified" in something to help people...a few generations ago, people didn't need an education to care for a stranger, and try to help if they needed it... I blame it on lawyers... ;p Hehe. Then again, our knowledge of healthcare has changed so much, and is still changing today... but still, if I were in trouble, I'd rather have a unknowledgeable, but caring person at my side than a highly educated person watching me from a distance.
I'm just a ol' redneck country boy that throws up his hand as someone goes by wither I knew them or not and sometimes I forget my Christian manners and this would have been one of those times. If you can't help you are a problem, get away and let someone help. According to the bible I can't see where you can or would go wrong helping someone. A very big pat on the back goes to ya!
wow thats awesome what you did!! i believe you did the right thing! I believe America has taken a turn for the worst!! I am the type of guy that will do anything to help a person! i've been told i'm foolish for helping people that i can't trust but i know that God will take care of me especially when i'm being obediant to his commands! We as a body of believers, i do not care about denominations as long as you believe in Jesus Christ and that He is Lord, we need to rise up and stand for our faith in such a radical way that nobody can influence us to continue to follow the trend of the feeble and weak "american" christain faith! Nobody can please God without Faith!