My brother once said that the world is made up of two kinds of people, the protectors and the protected. He was referring to everyday, ordinary people, not superheroes with alien powers. It is my hope that I always have the courage/ability to protect others when they need it. I also hope to have the humility to protect myself or to be protected by others when the situation calls for it.
I once witnessed a dog get hit by a car on the other side of the road. I turned my car around and blocked traffic to keep him from getting hit a second time. As I was blocking traffic, one passer by told me that I should flee the scene because the cops may think that I did it. A second passer by told me that I should just leave him because it was “just a dog”. (Fucking assholes!) While the call wasn’t worth a 911 effort, I called animal control and stayed with the dog until it’s last breath (it wasn’t long). I chose to be the protector. I covered him with a towel from my car and carried him off to the side of the road to a red zone where his body would be safe from desecration until animal control could retrieve him.
On a recent run, I was approaching a bus stop. I noticed a couple that was looking down at a man as they stepped over him and shook their heads in what seemed to be disapproval. Annoyed at their lack of compassion and concern for the afflicted, I stopped. I chose to be the protector. I leaned over him and asked the standard questions. Are you okay? What is your name? Do you need help? Do you need me to call 911? He responded to the last question with a drooling, glassy-eyed nod. As I was placing the call and explaining the situation, more people passed the scene. A few of them shook their heads and kept walking. Some of them commented, “he’s just drunk”. There was a smell of alcohol and an open container near him and I was sure to explain that to the 911 operator. One woman in particular passed by and kept repeating, “he’s drunk”, louder each time as if she were trying to speak loud enough for the operator to hear her voice over mine. She even stopped long enough to look over her shoulder and annunciate the word “in-ee-bree-eyt-ed” annoyingly loud. I was two seconds from telling her to shut the fuck up, when I reigned in my anger for her “passer by diagnosis”. Based on everything that I saw and smelled, was he drunk? Probably. Did that mean that he wasn’t worthy of compassion? Did that mean that he should only receive judgment from passers by and be left unconscious? Absolutly not. Does the smell and sight of alcohol mean that everything else in his body worked perfectly fine? I don’t like to make assumptions and that’s why I stopped to help. For all I know, he mixed that alcohol with prescription medication. I wonder if any of his judges considered that before shaking their heads and stepping over his barely conscious body. One other gentleman stopped to help. He leaned over and checked the victim’s pulse as he shook his shoulders and tried to get his attention. We had different approaches, but I’m grateful that two humans stopped to help another in need. Drunk or not, I don’t care if he did it to himself. When I asked, he said that he needed help. That was all I needed. Kudos to the Oakland first responders that were at the scene in two minutes! (I checked my watch.) Once I flagged them down and explained the situation, I finished my run.
About 18 months ago, there was a similar story with tragic consequences. A homeless man in San Francisco was passed out on a bustling street corner in a pool of his own blood and people stopped to take pictures and video with their “smart” phones. But, the man died because no one used those phones to call for help. No one stopped to call 911. (Fucking assholes!) I wonder how many people judged or feared him as they passed. I wonder if they diagnosed from afar. Stories like that make me understand why comic book super villains want to end the world.
If you see someone in need, please don’t assume and don’t diagnose. This isn’t a movie, so you don’t have to put your mouth on (read: CPR) the first unconscious person that you see. However, I do strongly suggest that EVERYONE complete CPR and first-aid training. If you use the training once in your life, it will make a big difference in someone else’s. Help your fellow human and check yourself if personal judgment gets in the way of compassion. Compassion is never convenient and you’re never in too much of a rush to be courteous. Don’t be a fucking asshole. 😉
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