Are we this heartless

[rsh56]

Originally Posted by Alyzza

I could believe it. Very many northern Virginians are very self-absorbed, self-important, terrified of being late for work, and don't want to get involved. And no one could even take a moment to call 911. What could you do if he was already dead? Well just leave him there of course! Call the cops and let them deal with it. Drunk and homeless people aren't usually lying in their own blood and from what I read he had a lot of blood around his face. If someone is sleeping under a blanket I can see why you would walk on by. But this guy was not under anything and was sprawled out on a sidewalk, hardly sleeping. He _could_ have been in a diabetic coma, he _could_ have been drunk and close to death. He _could_ have fallen and hit his head. He _could_ have been hit by a car. But noooo… the northernvirginians walked right on by. What they don't realize is that their work place will still be there tomorrow. I hardly think they would get a reprimand being late for stopping to help something like that. But on the other hand, it is northernvirginia. Yes they could be cautious but someone could have still called the cops, 911, whatever. I'm surprised they didn't just all stand around and stare.

Where we live now if anyone is in distress, everyone will come to their aid (except in certain places like Sanford). I've seen it done over and over. People falling, going into seizures, drunks, someone will always stop to assess the situation and do what they can. At least someone will hang around and call. They will even pull over to help a turtle get across the road.

You did not read this did you?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...xpW_story.html

Sternbeck said one witness who passed the man contacted police and remained at the scene.

Unless these other witnesses have SEEN something or have some first aid experience, what else would you expect them to do? Authorities don't need an audience to screw up their investigation.


Also, it seems like from the comments, it is not unusual to see drunkards laying down on the grass around this area and most people who pass this area would make that same assumption with this individual.

[Yankeesfan]

Originally Posted by Alyzza

Where we live now if anyone is in distress, everyone will come to their aid (except in certain places like Sanford). I've seen it done over and over. People falling, going into seizures, drunks, someone will always stop to assess the situation and do what they can.

Where is this that you live, that you are always seeing people falling, going into seizures, and collapsing because they're drunk? Must be quite a dramatic place if you see these things happening over and over.

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by Alyzza

I could believe it. Very many northern Virginians are very self-absorbed, self-important, terrified of being late for work, and don't want to get involved. And no one could even take a moment to call 911. What could you do if he was already dead? Well just leave him there of course! Call the cops and let them deal with it. Drunk and homeless people aren't usually lying in their own blood and from what I read he had a lot of blood around his face. If someone is sleeping under a blanket I can see why you would walk on by. But this guy was not under anything and was sprawled out on a sidewalk, hardly sleeping. He _could_ have been in a diabetic coma, he _could_ have been drunk and close to death. He _could_ have fallen and hit his head. He _could_ have been hit by a car. But noooo… the northernvirginians walked right on by. What they don't realize is that their work place will still be there tomorrow. I hardly think they would get a reprimand being late for stopping to help something like that. But on the other hand, it is northernvirginia. Yes they could be cautious but someone could have still called the cops, 911, whatever. I'm surprised they didn't just all stand around and stare.

Where we live now if anyone is in distress, everyone will come to their aid (except in certain places like Sanford). I've seen it done over and over. People falling, going into seizures, drunks, someone will always stop to assess the situation and do what they can. At least someone will hang around and call. They will even pull over to help a turtle get across the road.

This was at night during a major power outage. Some may not have seen the blood. Also if you suggest they should help the guy, what if they move him, he suffers a spinal injury, and dies anyway? Now you are left legally holding the bag. What if his blood is HIV positive and you arent wearing proper gloves and gear? Now you are sick. And if you didn't see the accident what were you gonna do if you knew someone else or presumed someone else called 911? You are actually doing the first responders a favor by not cluttering up around the person who needs help and not being there.

My case was different. I think everyone can agree that Columbia Pike and 4 mile run in the suburbs at 9pm with no lights on is different that 1st and Broadway in Downtown Louisville at lunchtime during daylight. For that reason I'm not gonna judge those who walked by because it was not an easy judgement call.

[rsh56]

Originally Posted by The Dissenter

This was at night during a major power outage. Some may not have seen the blood. Also if you suggest they should help the guy, what if they move him, he suffers a spinal injury, and dies anyway? Now you are left legally holding the bag. What if his blood is HIV positive and you arent wearing proper gloves and gear? Now you are sick. And if you didn't see the accident what were you gonna do if you knew someone else or presumed someone else called 911? You are actually doing the first responders a favor by not cluttering up around the person who needs help and not being there.

And you are also giving yourself room to get slapped with a lawsuit or some other legal binding. In first aid, you must check to see if the scene is ok but with the poor lighting, there wasn't much you could do to help the person out but to call 911.

Since I haven't had a TV for nearly 2 wks, I would assume coming from this video that the news exaggerated this whole story which really isn't new.

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by rsh56

Also, it seems like from the comments, it is not unusual to see drunkards laying down on the grass around this area...

I'm not so sure. I could be wrong, but I think it is unusual along Columbia Pike.

[IndiaLimaDelta]

Originally Posted by Alyzza

I could believe it. Very many northern Virginians are very self-absorbed, self-important, terrified of being late for work, and don't want to get involved. And no one could even take a moment to call 911. What could you do if he was already dead? Well just leave him there of course! Call the cops and let them deal with it. Drunk and homeless people aren't usually lying in their own blood and from what I read he had a lot of blood around his face. If someone is sleeping under a blanket I can see why you would walk on by. But this guy was not under anything and was sprawled out on a sidewalk, hardly sleeping. He _could_ have been in a diabetic coma, he _could_ have been drunk and close to death. He _could_ have fallen and hit his head. He _could_ have been hit by a car. But noooo… the northernvirginians walked right on by. What they don't realize is that their work place will still be there tomorrow. I hardly think they would get a reprimand being late for stopping to help something like that. But on the other hand, it is northernvirginia. Yes they could be cautious but someone could have still called the cops, 911, whatever. I'm surprised they didn't just all stand around and stare.

Yes, people elsewhere (say NYC, Chicago, Boston, LA) are self-sacrificing, humble, don't care about being late to work and want to get involved.

Things like this happen ALL THE TIME, especially in heavily urban areas. This is not a NoVA phenomenon.

Where we live now if anyone is in distress, everyone will come to their aid (except in certain places like Sanford). I've seen it done over and over. People falling, going into seizures, drunks, someone will always stop to assess the situation and do what they can. At least someone will hang around and call. They will even pull over to help a turtle get across the road.

Where I live (and lived) in NoVA (Western Fairfax and Loudoun), people help each other all the time. Whenever my wife was pregnant, people tried to help her, open the door, give up spots left and right. On the other hand, "people falling, going into seizures, drunks," etc. not so common around here.

[Caladium]

Last night one of the comments I heard about the shooting in Colorado was a complaint that too many people called 911. So I guess you can't win--if you're in a situation along with hundreds of other people do you call on the chance that you're the only one reporting it? Or do you choose not to call because hundreds of calls at once tie up the lines and become a problem?

[ReblTeen84]

Originally Posted by marie5v

Seems to me that people walking by just thought he was drunk or homeless or something and didn't realize he had been hit. Whenever I have seen someone injured in a car accident in NoVa, so many people have pulled over to help that after a few minutes there actually wasn't any room for anyone else to pull over. I think people will stop to help if they know someone has been injured, but will keep walking and not look back if they think they are looking at a homeless person or someone sleeping or passed out on the street possibly for reasons related to drugs or alchohol. Many years ago I was walking home from a bus stop when I suffered a sudden medical problem and collapsed on the sidewalk. I was wearing my work clothes - suit, heels, etc. - but people just stepped around me or crossed the street to avoid me. I realized they weren't even looking at me closely enough to see I was in pain - they just saw person on the ground and thought homeless or drunk and looked away too quickly to think anything else. It was disheartening, but if you're ever made the mistake of trying to help someone who turned out to be drunk, on drugs, or crazy, then you learn your lesson about just walking away quickly. I'm sorry to say I would have stayed away too - but then called 911 from a distance at least.

Indeed. When I went down on my motorcycle on HOV a few months ago, the woman behind me stopped to call 911 (and my wife, since I was still conscious) and stayed with me until I was picked up by the EMT's, an off duty trooper pulled over to help, and a doctor on his way home pulled over. All before the paramedics got to me. I don't remember any of this (a concussion will do that to a guy, I don't remember anything from the day I went down until I woke up in the hospital the next morning), but I made sure to call and thank everyone I could reach who had pulled over. I still haven't been able to find out who the doc was. I've pulled over to help people before as well, but honestly, if I were to come across a guy laying in the middle of the sidewalk or gutter in DC, I don't even know that I'd notice - I saw it so often when I worked in the city I've become used to it.