Opinion, please.
Yesterday I called 000. No, we didn’t have an emergency, what I am interested in is your opinions on why I reacted the way I did after I made the call. But let me tell you why I made the call in the first place. It happened on the way to work. I was standing on a crowded bus, and I happened to look out the window and saw a man lying on the footpath. I wondered what he was doing – was he asleep? Drunk? Ill? He didn’t look asleep, as he was kind of slumped against a wall, and he didn’t look especially comfortable (although you might argue that it’s not possible to be comfortable lying on a city footpath). He looked somewhat “rough” – unshaven, in a grubby t-shirt, worn jeans, and there was a pair of thongs next to his feet. Hmm, not wearing his thongs. Well, what can I do anyway, I thought. I’m in peak hour traffic, I can’t get off the bus (we were almost at the bus station), and yep, he’s probably just drunk. Right? Then I remembered the Kitty Genovese incident described in Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point:
Genovese was chased by her assailant and attacked three times on the street, over the course of half an hour, as thirty-eight of her neighbors watched from their windows. During that time, however, none of the thirty-eight witnesses called the police. (p.27)
The reason given for why no one called the police? “When people are in a group, in other words, responsibility for acting is diffused. They assume that someone else will make the call, or they assume that because no one else is acting, the apparent problem – the seizure-like sounds from the other room, the smoke from the door – isn’t really a problem.” (p.28)
What if the man was ill, or had been attacked? What if other people have also decided the guy was “just drunk”, or that someone else has already reported this? I pulled out my mobile and called. (I had no idea 000 goes to a call centre. They are very brusque. “City?” “State?”) Anyway, after I was put through (I asked for the police), I gave a brief description of the guy and the man on the other end said he’d send someone out to check.
By the time I hung up, the bus had arrived at the station. I got off the bus, and started shaking. I felt all weak and flustered. It was really strange – but luckily the shaking didn’t last too long, maybe ten or twenty seconds. Why would calling the police have had such an effect on me? Was it dealing with the police? (I don’t, usually.) Was the incident that exciting? (I wasn’t aware of thinking of it in terms of being exciting, especially as I made the call.) Have you had a similar experience?
I have no idea what happened with the man. Hopefully there was nothing seriously wrong with him.
10 Comments
You may recall I had to dial 111 for the ambulance when the man across the road tried to hang himself?
I felt all breathless and had that adrenaline thing going on in my tummy while I spoke to the people on the other end.
It did help that I had to take Tim to kindy and had a coffee appointment with some friends after. I think having stuff planned for me to focus on helped me. But I did feel unsettled for the rest of the day.
It’s good that you cared enough to call.
It is good you cared enough, but you are the rare case. What Gladwell does not take into account (at least from the little quote you provide) is that a lot of people, at least here in the States, simply do not want to be involved. Calling the police? That means they may come and question you. It may mean they may ask you to testify. Heck, depending on what happened, they may come to see you as a suspect yourself. People pretty much figure it is not worth the hassle or the aggravation to put it mildly (and this does not even take into account that in many cases the police don’t exactly have a stellar reputation in dealing with the public). And in a case like the one Gladwell describes, add the fear a perpetrator could identify a caller and the possibility of repercussions. Your situation was nothing extreme like a rape, but the point for me is that for Gladwell to simply say responsibility is diffused without taking into account everything else is just simplistic.
But it does keep one’s faith in humanity when someone is still willing to make the call.
Best, and keep on blogging.
Obviously you did the right thing, quite brave actually. I’ve had to call an ambulance a couple of times in much more straightforward circumstances, it is very odd.
Adrenaline.. hmm good point Penny. I’m still surprised though cos I didn’t think/feel anything in particular – or was not aware of thinking/feeling anything in particular – while I was making the call. And how could I forget about your incident! That would definitely have been far more unsettling…
Cheers Tom – did you have a similar reaction when you called the ambulance?
That’s definitely an adrenaline reaction. When something comes up that you don’t know how to deal with but you know something needs to be done your body goes into overdrive. It’s set up for physical situations but works in mental-only situations too: I had the reaction once in a flippin’ chess game, of all things.
I think there’s no question that you did the right thing, but I think it goes against all the instincts (fostered in our society) we have to stay out of other people’s business, especially if they are complete strangers. We are wary of even making decisions for people we love, let alone someone we have never seen before. The notion of free will in this society is very important as a civil liberty and as a conscientious civil libertarian I think you probably had to overcome some internal leanings to let the guy sort himself out. Also, however innocent we are and however benevolent they seem, the police are the authority figures in our society, and we can’t help associating them with situations of lawlessness and catastrophe. Also I think you’re probably a compassionate enough person to be worried/distressed about the guy and what might be happening to him, and not want to cause him any trouble.
I agree with what people have said about the adrenalin, and what people have said about why you had that reaction. As well, I think if I called them in a situation like that, I’d be stressing about things like what if I shouldn’t have called? Should I have called the non-emergency number? What if they get annoyed at me or I get into trouble? Those sort of thoughts would get me all worked up, especially combined with the “did I do the right thing?” and “Eep, police!” bits.
About not thinking/feeling anything at the time – that was probably because you were high on adrenalin and focused on dealing with the problem. It’s the comedown afterwards that’s the shakey/teary/stressy bit. I had that after seeing my friends car crashed at the side of the road – I was ok while I was there, talking to him and his parents, but I started shaking and crying as soon as I left.
I agree with what everyone above is saying. Good on you for calling them. It’s always inspiring to hear someone taking responsibility for something in this modern age of just pushing responsibility onto others.
On a personal note. A year or two ago I saw someone throw a bottle from a moving car at a road sign. Part of the shattered glass rebounded onto my car. I called crime stoppers because you can make anonymous tips; however, when I called they said that while the information is helpful, they can’t really prosecute unless I’m prepared to reveal my identity and be a witness in court. Basically whoever it was would know my identity and where I live. At the time I wasn’t prepared for that and so declined to give them my identity, and they were thankful just for the information. In hind sight I realise that of course if no one is prepared to stand up to them, it makes it very difficult for the police to protect us. The next time an incident occurred I was happy to tell them who I was; however, I didn’t have much information and I don’t think anything became of it.
Hopefully next time your reaction will not be as strong 🙂
Great work C. 🙂
Hi Con,
I once rang the police when I was driving and saw a woman hurrying across an intersection carrying a baby. She looked very distressed, and she wasn’t waiting for the lights to change, so was walking in among traffic. It looked so odd and out of character for the area – no pram, nothing wrapped around baby,etc.
A few overly dramatic things went through my head – abduction, running away, hospital nearby, depression – so I reported it just in case – so that they would know which way she was heading. I felt a bit silly – but thought that it could help if it was part of a larger story. They were understanding – said they had no reports. (I felt better for making the call)
Of course in hindsight, I should have just turned the car around, stopped and asked her directly if she needed help.
Thanks for all your comments and support!
Angel, I didn’t even think of what getting involved might mean… I think I would still do it, even so. (Hopefully I am never in a position to find out if I would or not, though…)
Sheena I didn’t consider that some might think it was intrusive, I was just worried he needed help.
Akkadis I am just glad I went into automatic mode – afterwards I wondered which service I should have called. If I’d dithered too much at the time I probably would have not done anything at all.
Cheers Steve. I hear what you’re saying about revealing your identity. This reminds me of another incident I was involved in where I ran out of the house to help a woman who was being beaten up by a guy. I didn’t even think that they (especially the guy) would have seen which house I came out of and might have wanted to come back to get even…
I think I would have done the same thing if I was driving Kit. One time, when I was walking home, I stopped to pull a drunk guy off the road. He was very distressed and I did have to call the cops cos I couldn’t get any sense out of him to get him home (or find out who to call to come and get him).