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billbenson
08-04-2012, 12:17 AM
My wife was in a strip mall today. It had a large grocery store, and other strip mall types of stores. In front of a rehabilitation center for people that have been injured, an elderly man who was quite heavy fell down. It was 95 out in the hot sun and he was laying on hot white pavement. The man was not hurt, but he just couldn't get up without help. My wife and two other women tried to help him up but he was to heavy.

My wife and the two other women kept asking men coming out of the grocery store to help them. No one would help. It took 20 minutes until some teenager helped them. The elderly man was fine, but humiliated.

This sort of thing really angers me. It's also typical of the area I live in. My wife was in tears telling me this story. Absolutely nobody would help.

Steve B
08-04-2012, 06:54 AM
What a shame. That wouldn't have happened that way where I live.

billbenson
08-04-2012, 04:52 PM
I live in a strange area Steve. It used to me a farming community and there still is farmland within a few miles of me. 5 miles from me is the beach which has a more educated population.

Where I live there are elderly retirees, several good hospitals, small retail stores, insurance agents, etc., but no real industry of any kind. When I first moved here I lived in an apartment complex. If you went outside about the time people were going to work, you would see people in McDonalds uniforms, some laborers, retail employees, but nobody that appeared to be a professional. People avoided saying hello to each other. I tried to introduce myself to my neighbors but they would avoid me. Weird. 5 miles away at the beach, that didn't happen. People were friendly.

The only conclusion I've been able to come up with is educational level. Either that or its just a trapped culture here. Kind of like living on an island. Having traveled to most Caribbean islands for work some the people were friendly some they weren't. They were trapped cultures.

That's still no excuse for nobody helping that man though.

Russ in Vancouver
08-05-2012, 12:16 AM
have you seen the movie "God bless America?"

billbenson
08-05-2012, 12:34 AM
have you seen the movie "God bless America?"

Nope? What does it have to say?

Steve B
08-05-2012, 06:57 AM
Where is it that you live again?

Harold Mansfield
08-05-2012, 03:57 PM
A few years back, I was working in downtown Las Vegas and going to check out an Apartment in the area on my lunch break. It was only 3 blocks away from the job, so even though it was probably 100 degrees, I walked.

As I got to the street where the building was, there was a man slouched in the corner of the front door of a Scientology book store that was closed for the day. He looked homeless (or I should say he looked pretty ratty and unkept. I have no idea if he was actually homeless) and I barely even glanced at him, except to step over his legs that were sticking out in my path, but I did see that he had a needle sticking out of his arm...but I didn't recognize that I had seen that until I later.

Even though it wasn't "that kind" of neighborhood, it's full of law offices and other businesses....I grew up in Detroit and had seen worse, and I thought nothing of it and kept walking.

After I got to my destination, I was standing in the building managers office and it hit me how out of place this guy was, and that I had just stepped over a human being basically laying in the street and NOW recognized that I had seen a needle in his arm.

I told the building manager I'd be right back and ran back to where I'd seen the guy. He was still there. I didn't really want to touch him, but I could see his chest moving like he was breathing.

So I called 911. While I was waiting, maybe 4 or 5 lawyer types walked right by me standing over him, glanced and kept walking. No one asked what was going on. No one looked for more than a few seconds. Even though it was likely their offices were in the immediate area, none of them seemed to care.

Within 2 minutes police and medical showed up, immediately gave him medical attention, IV ( or whatever they give overdoses) and transported him to the local hospital.
The cops said that looked like an overdose, and that if I hadn't stopped and called, the guy would have likely died right there.

I don't know what ever happened to that guy. I'd like to think that maybe he eventually cleaned up and is making it.
But it's much better to wonder and hope that he is well today, than to live with the guilt that I stepped over a human being and went on with my life.

I always get involved when it looks like people need help, and I'm right there. Not because I'm some kind of good Samaritan, but because I can't ignore them and live with the guilt of wondering if I could have made the difference in saving someone or helping them when no one else would.

billbenson
08-05-2012, 04:25 PM
Central Florida south of Tampa an hour or so.

Florida in general has some different mixes of people. Southeast Florida has a mix of Cubans Haitians, and East Coast Americans. It's got a New York sort o attitude, traffic is horrible, best weather in the state. Not as cold in the winter and not as hot in the summer. There are a lot of wealthy people and a lot of poor people. People are very open in a California sort of way. My wife and I are a mixed couple (Latina and Gringo) and we fit in very well there.

The west coast has a very Midwest attitude. We vacationers from the Midwest and Canada. There are wealthy places like Naples and business centers like Tampa.

The greater Orlando area is built up and progressive.

But when you get into the center sections of the state, you can find yourself in the old south in a Deliverance sort of way.

As I've written this post I've drawn the conclusion that my island analogy is what exists here. It's an isolated grown up farm town with little outside influence. We have retirees because its inexpensive. We have wealthier people who live in the beach area. But aside from that, its people that have grown up here and never left. There is really no other reason to relocate here because there is no industry. I'm here because a friend lived and had family here and wanted to start a business. They were from the beach side. I had just relocated from Panama and didn't think twice about where I moved to.

I'm staying put because I've found a pocket of friends and I have a couple of other reasons I don't want to leave. If I do I'll go back to Panama or maybe Costa Rica.

billbenson
08-05-2012, 04:28 PM
A few years back, I was working in downtown Las Vegas and going to check out an Apartment in the area on my lunch break. It was only 3 blocks away from the job, so even though it was probably 100 degrees, I walked.

As I got to the street where the building was, there was a man slouched in the corner of the front door of a Scientology book store that was closed for the day. He looked homeless (or I should say he looked pretty ratty and unkept. I have no idea if he was actually homeless) and I barely even glanced at him, except to step over his legs that were sticking out in my path, but I did see that he had a needle sticking out of his arm...but I didn't recognize that I had seen that until I later.

Even though it wasn't "that kind" of neighborhood, it's full of law offices and other businesses....I grew up in Detroit and had seen worse, and I thought nothing of it and kept walking.

After I got to my destination, I was standing in the building managers office and it hit me how out of place this guy was, and that I had just stepped over a human being basically laying in the street and NOW recognized that I had seen a needle in his arm.

I told the building manager I'd be right back and ran back to where I'd seen the guy. He was still there. I didn't really want to touch him, but I could see his chest moving like he was breathing.

So I called 911. While I was waiting, maybe 4 or 5 lawyer types walked right by me standing over him, glanced and kept walking. No one asked what was going on. No one looked for more than a few seconds. Even though it was likely their offices were in the immediate area, none of them seemed to care.

Within 2 minutes police and medical showed up, immediately gave him medical attention, IV ( or whatever they give overdoses) and transported him to the local hospital.
The cops said that looked like an overdose, and that if I hadn't stopped and called, the guy would have likely died right there.

I don't know what ever happened to that guy. I'd like to think that maybe he eventually cleaned up and is making it.
But it's much better to wonder and hope that he is well today, than to live with the guilt that I stepped over a human being and went on with my life.

I always get involved when it looks like people need help, and I'm right there. Not because I'm some kind of good Samaritan, but because I can't ignore them and live with the guilt of wondering if I could have made the difference in saving someone or helping them when no one else would.

And that's a great attitude!

billbenson
08-05-2012, 04:34 PM
A number of years I learned a great lesson from a friend. There was a woman who had dropped something and had a scowl on her face that could kill. He picked it up and gave it to her and said "here you go ma'm, have a nice day". She all of a sudden had a smile from ear to ear.

It's amazing what you can do with a polite act of kindness.

KristineS
08-06-2012, 11:25 AM
It's amazing how desensitized you can get. I live in a relatively small town (although big for the area in which I live) but there is definitely a townie vs. newbie thing going on here. If you were born here, which I was not, you're reacted to mostly positively. If you moved here, as I did, you can get a lot of attitude. I suppose it has something to do with this being a tourist area. The "locals" resent those who have come to the area, although the town wouldn't have many of the amenities it boasts if the new people hadn't come.

huggytree
08-08-2012, 06:48 PM
What a shame. That wouldn't have happened that way where I live.

guaranteed it wouldnt happen in my hometown either

people might have been too busy? what time of day was it? was it the lunch crowd?

i wouldnt like to help a LARGE guy either...id do it though....my first thought would be he's going to smell or be sweaty....id do it because its the right thing to do, but id go wash my hands when i was done.

i think the overweight thing is why....no one wants to help a blob

people are very self centered....more now than ever

billbenson
08-08-2012, 08:59 PM
guaranteed it wouldnt happen in my hometown either

people might have been too busy? what time of day was it? was it the lunch crowd?

i wouldnt like to help a LARGE guy either...id do it though....my first thought would be he's going to smell or be sweaty....id do it because its the right thing to do, but id go wash my hands when i was done.

i think the overweight thing is why....no one wants to help a blob

people are very self centered....more now than ever

Unfortunately Huggy, that's not the reason. I've been here 8 years or so and it's taken me that amount of time to develop a small group of friends. They all came from the beach area and will tell you the same thing about this area and they are from here.

But I can imagine the same behavior in other parts of the country, particularly parts of big cities.

KristineS
08-09-2012, 12:43 PM
I think it's kind of easy to get desensitized after a while. You tend to just stay in your own little bubble because it's easier that way. There are also issues with law suits and things that I think make people more wary. I'd still help someone if they needed it, but I think everyone is a bit more thoughtful about that sort of stuff now.

StefanT
08-13-2012, 04:01 PM
Wow, that is rough. It's hard to believe someone would literally CALL OUT for help and people would ignore that. They should have the local parish and/or local newspaper talk about that episode and ask people to reflect on what kind of community they want to have.