#100BM Day 22


Ten minutes.

What the hell, Toronto.

But the truth of the matter is, people don’t want to get involved directly in difficult/dangerous situations. Fear? Helplessness? Selfishness?

Last winter, Richard saw, from his office window, someone fall and hit their head on the ice. He called 911 because none of the six people who stopped to gawk, nor the folks who kept walking down the street despite a person CONVULSING AND BLEEDING ON THE SIDEWALK, had done so.

What the actual fuck, Ottawa.

Bad shit happens every day.** We can only do so much to mitigate this. But what happened to community? What happened to vigilance? What happened to not being a dick?

On a selfish(-ish) note, I don’t want to think about a friend getting injured in a hit-and-run, or getting mugged, or worse, and no one giving a damn despite seeing it happened. Think it’s not your business? Then you might be a giant jerk.

If you have an opportunity to improve a terrible situation, do it. It may not be a fight, but maybe check in on someone who think might be having a rough time. Ask the girl bawling her eyes on the bus if she’s OK. Help your neighbour carry their groceries upstairs if the elevator’s busted. Do unto others, etc.

No human is an island.

No human is invincible.

Seriously, don’t be an asshole. The world has plenty enough.

* Actually asked politely, because Canada. And danger

**I have had weeks of calling emergency services multiple times. It is not fun. Sometimes it is really not easy, especially if one isn’t sure the cops are going to do right by the inebriated and confused homeless guy.

2 thoughts on “Heroics.

  1. Jackie

    I still don’t think it was heroic. That makes me uncomfortable. I’m grateful I was able to not be an asshole in a crisis.

    • megan

      Well, you were hella braver than the chumps just walking by oblivious/scared/ambivalent, so that counts. Sorry. 🙂

Leave a Reply
