mortality -- an aspirational rant
so, i was walking to the subway from my friend's apt in brooklyn, waiting to the cross the street when i hear the squeal of tires. wondering what the hell is going on, i look up just in time to see a beat-up gray car skidding into the intersection and a girl being thrown off her bike.
i watched this unfold and stood there stunned. i couldn't believe i had just seen this.
i ran to the girl as another man forced her to lie back down (she tried to get up, truly disoriented). she was concious but clearly confused as to what had just happened. she had hit her head pretty hard on the asphalt, but seemed ok otherwise.
as i walked over to her, what seemed like the entire neighborhood ran over into the middle of the street to help and to see what happened. 3 separate people were on the phone with 911. i was impressed to see such attentiveness. and i thought as i rode the subway home, why can't everyone be so attentive? i feel like in most neighborhoods, people will see a woman being attacked or a young boy get beaten up and just keep walking.
i once heard a story, maybe on the news, about a woman getting attacked and raped in the courtyard of an apartment building. and all the neighbors heard it, but no one did anything about it because they all thought, "someone else will call the police." and what's sad is that no one did.
here's a true story. i was walking to work one morning in the dead of winter. it had recently snowed and ground was icy. an elderly man had slipped on the ice and fallen over. he didn't look like he hit the ground hard, but he was old and clearly needed help getting up, to say the least. i watched at least 5 people walk right by him. it made me sick to see them just walk on by, more concerned with making it to work on time. i walked over to make sure he was ok. thankfully, another person had stopped to help him up just before i got there. but, those people who kept walking absolutely digusted me.
it's happened to me before, when you slip on ice and fall in the middle of 8th avenue and not a single person stops to ask if you're ok, it really shows you what little humanity is left in the world.
so, after witnessing first-hand the humanity and humility and compassion that the human beings in williamsburg, brooklyn had today, i think we should all make an effort to take the time to help someone out.
hold the door. help someone up when they fall. give a homeless man a dollar or the phone number to a homeless shelter. say thank you. cheer the cashier up at the convenience store, chances are they're having a worse day than you are.
do something. anything. just don't be so self-consumed that you can't offer a minute or a quarter to someone who clearly needs it more than you.
i watched this unfold and stood there stunned. i couldn't believe i had just seen this.
i ran to the girl as another man forced her to lie back down (she tried to get up, truly disoriented). she was concious but clearly confused as to what had just happened. she had hit her head pretty hard on the asphalt, but seemed ok otherwise.
as i walked over to her, what seemed like the entire neighborhood ran over into the middle of the street to help and to see what happened. 3 separate people were on the phone with 911. i was impressed to see such attentiveness. and i thought as i rode the subway home, why can't everyone be so attentive? i feel like in most neighborhoods, people will see a woman being attacked or a young boy get beaten up and just keep walking.
i once heard a story, maybe on the news, about a woman getting attacked and raped in the courtyard of an apartment building. and all the neighbors heard it, but no one did anything about it because they all thought, "someone else will call the police." and what's sad is that no one did.
here's a true story. i was walking to work one morning in the dead of winter. it had recently snowed and ground was icy. an elderly man had slipped on the ice and fallen over. he didn't look like he hit the ground hard, but he was old and clearly needed help getting up, to say the least. i watched at least 5 people walk right by him. it made me sick to see them just walk on by, more concerned with making it to work on time. i walked over to make sure he was ok. thankfully, another person had stopped to help him up just before i got there. but, those people who kept walking absolutely digusted me.
it's happened to me before, when you slip on ice and fall in the middle of 8th avenue and not a single person stops to ask if you're ok, it really shows you what little humanity is left in the world.
so, after witnessing first-hand the humanity and humility and compassion that the human beings in williamsburg, brooklyn had today, i think we should all make an effort to take the time to help someone out.
hold the door. help someone up when they fall. give a homeless man a dollar or the phone number to a homeless shelter. say thank you. cheer the cashier up at the convenience store, chances are they're having a worse day than you are.
do something. anything. just don't be so self-consumed that you can't offer a minute or a quarter to someone who clearly needs it more than you.