Troubled Thoughts

I realize that most of my posts are light-hearted, but today I am going to be different, and tell you about something that I find rather sad.

This past Monday, I was walking alongside a street on campus. The street has three lanes going both directions. As I made my way down the hill, I noticed a girl in the street, in the middle of the right lane. She looked as if she had fallen. I saw another girl with her, trying to pull her up.

I hurried up and quickly made my way towards them. There was another girl ahead of me, who simply walked past the two girls (I'll get to my thoughts on her shortly). When I arrived, I saw that the girl in the street was in tears, obviously petrified about the whole ordeal. I helped pull her out of the street and onto the safety of the sidewalk. The other girl and I supported her, and then they called for some friends to pick her up in their car.

The girl who was hurt told me that she had fallen and hurt her ankle. I said I was sure she'd be okay, especially now that she was out of the street.

This street runs along a residential area and borders the campus. The speed limit is 30 mph. However, people rarely observe the speed limit, especially on this particular 3-lane road. They tend to travel 50, on average. That said, I certainly don't blame the girl for being so upset, and getting her the hell off the street was the first and most important thing to do.

What really left me awestruck is that cars did not seem to slow down when they saw her, but rather swerved into the next lane and sped around her.

When all was said and done, my thoughts returned to the woman I had seen ahead of me. And I found myself asking, "what the hell is wrong with some people?!!" How can you see someone in distress and not do anything to help that person? I don't care what meeting you have to get to, or if you'll lose your job if you're late. None of that measures up when there is a life at stake. I mean, the beotch didn't even stop to talk to the two girls!!! She ignored the tears and the look of fear in their eyes, and kept right on walking.

I did not offer my help for sake of chivalry, I helped because I'm human. And when something is wrong with a fellow comrade, I could not live with myself if I didn't do something to help out. I could not simply walk past a person who fell into the street and can't get up to safety.

I mean, really, where's the compassion? Where's the instinct that we should look out for each other, no matter whether we know someone or how we might perceive them or judge them?

This "woman" who turned the other cheek, who put herself above another, has left me stupefied and frustrated. And you'd better believe that, should I ever meet her face to face, I'll have a few choice words for her.