How can people be so nasty?

aileth

My sister was with her friend in the city centre. He had epilepsy which he took medication for. He started fitting very badly in the middle of a packed city centre. She had no idea what to do so was screaming for someone to help her and was crying hysterically. She said 80% of people walked past staring, the rest were actually stood watching from a distance with one taking a photo on his camera. It took a shop assistant to fly out of her shop to assist and call the ambulance before anyone helped.

I was absolutely horrified. What these people don't realise is they aren't immune to something similar happen to them, and then they'd be complaining about the same inaction they showed my sister.

On a higher note, my mum slipped on ice walking to work. Three commuters stopped their cars to help and one drove her to
A&E and then used her phone to call my dad.

zaxdog

That response just brought mind an incident where my parents were sitting outside their fairly isolated house having lunch when they heard a car crash on the road beside them. Dad as a former policeman sprinted out and they called 999 then stayed with the folk and my Dad drove to the nearest city the next day to pick up their daughter and take her to the hospital. A week later the whole family turned up with wine and flowers for my parents

I know the good people are in the majority it was just rotten luck it was a numptie who was coming along in his car.

A swift pint is helping me feel no pain :beer:

betsie

I believe in Karma!! lets hope he sped off down the road and got caught by a speed camara and now has a £60 fine winging its way to him.

Hope you feel better soon. I am sure most people have fallen over in public and felt embarressed. My husband always seems to be picking people up from pavements.

scorpio_biker

When I was younger (and a lot fitter) I used to cycle the 6 miles to college. It was through the New Forest and one icy morning I was approaching Brockenhurst where this is a long downwards slope and I must have hit some ice, I came off my bike and we both proceeded to slide down the road. I came to rest in the road facing up the slope only to observe a car approaching me, calmly indicate and drive round me without stopping. I think it was the fact they took the time to actually indicate to go round me that made me laugh afterwards. Luckily I just had some scrapes, and was able to continue my journey, although I did use the train to come home.

I'm glad you are ok OP, it can be a shock to fall anyway, without someone shouting at you. Perhaps it was just a fright reaction from the driver (being generous here).

jackomdj

Shocking how some people can just walk past.

My Grandad was a well known person in the town he lived in (he used to be the school caretaker so a lot of people knew him) He used to fall down and twice he was brought home by taxi drivers, who didn't want paying and once the bus dropped him to the door! Unfortunately as the falls became more regular he couldn't go out, then the last couple of years he was with us he remained in bed.

ska_lover

A couple of months ago, I was in heavy traffic, and I saw what I thought was a cyclist get knocked off her bike by a car - whilst I was further down the traffic que. By the time I got to her, at least 25 cars (inc the one that had knocked her off) had swerved around her laying prone in the road.

Luckily for her, no lasting damage, nasty scrape on her knee and shaken up

Gingernutty

On a wet and miserable winter's evening, I was walking to the tube station in the rush hour, when I came across a man in a wheelchair.

Unable to control his movements, he'd slipped down, caught his foot on the foot rest plate and brought his slip-on shoe off.

He was asking people if they could help him get his shoe back on and they were just rushing past.

I stopped and helped him get his shoe back on.

The abuse we both took from a bunch of random strangers as they past us as we both got soaked in the pouring rain was abominable.

It was nearly twenty years ago and I still remember it.

candygirl

I once fainted in the post office queue:o The cashier helped me up n got a chair, but an old bloke behind me was actually moaning about ne holding up the queue:mad:

DKLS

jackomdj wrote: »

Shocking how some people can just walk past.

Its a well known and studied psychological phenomenon sometimes known as the Bystander effect or bystander apathy.

Here is the Wiki article with some decent links to research.

Loz01

These stories don't surprise me at all sadly! My car broke down and some kind passers by pushed me onto the grass verge while I waited for the AA but some guy came along on a bike, dismounted and started shouting "YOURE BLOCKING THE CYCLE PATH! Get on the road!" :eek:

Me: I've broken down!!!
Cyclist: GET OFF THE PATH YOU IDIOT
Me: MY CAR WONT EVEN SWITCH ON!!!
Cyclist: you can move can't you? Bloody ignorant drivers! P*** off!

And cycled off :eek: this was a 50 year old, 18 stone man and I'm 5ft 2 and 8 stone. Some people are so rude.