The end of civilization
Over the past few days when we were all supposed to be counting our blessings, I was sitting here wondering if perhaps the civilized world as we know it isn't on its last legs.
The first warning sign came a couple of weeks ago when a teenage girl here in South Florida shot and killed a classmate, reportedly because her friend rejected her advances for a more romantic relationship. The background to the story is complex and sadly, two young lives are over. One girl is dead, the other lost to the court system.
Last week the news was even more shocking. A troubled 19-year-old young man, again here in South Florida, committed suicide in front of a webcam, while over 100 people watched online and did nothing. More horrifying was that some of them reportedly were egging him on as he took the overdose of pills that killed him. By the time someone came to their senses and actually made a call for help, it was too late. He was dead.
And then, just last Friday, a mob of shoppers trampled a store employee to death...so they could get to the bargains. In another store one shopper shot another, apparently over a toy.
What on earth are we coming to as a society? I suppose, going back to man versus lion in ancient Rome, there's a history of blood lust and mob mentality, but I thought the world had improved a bit since then. Apparently not.
So, what is our duty and obligation in this new world? Surely we're supposed to get involved when someone is clearly troubled, when someone is clearly engaged in an act that can harm themselves or others. Can't we at least make that critical phone call to the police that could save a life? Can't we use some common sense and courtesy when we're at a store sale, for goodness sakes?
On Black Friday, I was chatting with another shopper as we were being waited on in a quiet mall that wasn't mobbed with frantic bargain hunters. She'd been to one store where lines were insanely long, but everyone there had been courteous and pleasant. She'd followed that with a stop at another store where people had been so rude, she'd turned right around and left. Even in these difficult economic times, no sale price is so amazing that it's worth risking a brawl, much less trampling over an innocent person. How have we forgotten that?
And how have we forgotten that human life is something of value, that ending a life is a tragedy, not entertainment?
Sherryl Woods
The first warning sign came a couple of weeks ago when a teenage girl here in South Florida shot and killed a classmate, reportedly because her friend rejected her advances for a more romantic relationship. The background to the story is complex and sadly, two young lives are over. One girl is dead, the other lost to the court system.
Last week the news was even more shocking. A troubled 19-year-old young man, again here in South Florida, committed suicide in front of a webcam, while over 100 people watched online and did nothing. More horrifying was that some of them reportedly were egging him on as he took the overdose of pills that killed him. By the time someone came to their senses and actually made a call for help, it was too late. He was dead.
And then, just last Friday, a mob of shoppers trampled a store employee to death...so they could get to the bargains. In another store one shopper shot another, apparently over a toy.
What on earth are we coming to as a society? I suppose, going back to man versus lion in ancient Rome, there's a history of blood lust and mob mentality, but I thought the world had improved a bit since then. Apparently not.
So, what is our duty and obligation in this new world? Surely we're supposed to get involved when someone is clearly troubled, when someone is clearly engaged in an act that can harm themselves or others. Can't we at least make that critical phone call to the police that could save a life? Can't we use some common sense and courtesy when we're at a store sale, for goodness sakes?
On Black Friday, I was chatting with another shopper as we were being waited on in a quiet mall that wasn't mobbed with frantic bargain hunters. She'd been to one store where lines were insanely long, but everyone there had been courteous and pleasant. She'd followed that with a stop at another store where people had been so rude, she'd turned right around and left. Even in these difficult economic times, no sale price is so amazing that it's worth risking a brawl, much less trampling over an innocent person. How have we forgotten that?
And how have we forgotten that human life is something of value, that ending a life is a tragedy, not entertainment?
Sherryl Woods
Labels: Black Friday, Incivility, rudeness, tragedies
posted by Just Between Friends at
6:37 AM
1 Comments:
I don’t know if it’s civilization declining, or just plain overcrowding. Someone did a study a few decades ago that suggested that people were prone to the same kinds of reactions as rats when there were too many in too small a space. The rats [lab rats] basically went crazy. So far, people in larger urban areas seem to go equally crazy. People shoot up workplaces, fast food restaurants, schools, whatever is convenient. Most of them don’t have anything remotely approaching a reason. At least outright terrorists have a political excuse, as lame as it may be, but what’s the reason for going postal? And why should ‘going postal’ have become a common descriptive term?
If I recall correctly, the case of the Central Park jogger was the first one that grabbed national attention for people not wanting to get involved. A lot of people heard her screaming, and ignored it. One person did call 911, but it was someone with a medical condition and the operator who took the call assumed it was a child playing a game and hung up on him. So much for involvement.
A couple times I’ve had to call 911 myself, and gotten some very disturbing responses. Once was when someone we knew kicked in the front door in the middle of the night, and when I called, I was told the cops on duty were too busy chasing kids at a keg party on a beach to respond - I said fine, the next time I’ll shoot the SOB and you can just send an ambulance. I got a lot of flack over that. Another time someone had set fire to a car in our front yard, it was a beater sitting right next to mine, and the person who took the call was a whole lot more upset that I had a car I didn’t have a title to than the fact that there was a raging fire 5' away from my own car, and 10' from the house. I said fine, first send a fire truck, and I’ll tell you whatever you want to know - she said NO - first you tell me what I want to know, THEN I’ll send a fire truck. Still another time there were a pair of screaming drunks fighting [verbally, thank heaven] at the bus stop shelter at the edge of our yard. Once again I called, said I was afraid it was going to escalate to violence considering what I’d been hearing, and the trooper on duty asked if _I_ couldn’t go out and tell them to go home!
I’m not all that keen on getting involved myself, anymore. I might consider bashing someone upside the head if I see a mugging going on, but I wouldn’t bother calling any authority for assistance.
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