Picture this- It is a little after 8:00am and you are driving to work or dropping the kiddos off at school, or whatever your morning routine is and you notice a bicyclist laying on his back on the sidewalk at the corner of the intersection. Ask yourself, would you stop and help him? Now, think about it a little more and REALLY take a moment and think: Would you stop? This morning, after dropping my son off at school, I saw a bicyclist wearing a neon green shirt laying on the concrete with his mangled bike nearby. Without thinking, I pulled into the gas station and ran across the 4 lanes of traffic, armed with my phone. I looked over and there was another woman who had pulled over and was running alongside me. As I sat down on the sidewalk with the bicyclist, calling 911, I looked out onto the street, watching cars whiz by. Surely, others would see that someone is hurt and stop, I thought to myself. I gathered the information from the bicyclist, Mike as I spoke to the 911 dispatch, trying to push back my desire to see others stop. I sat with Mike on the sidewalk and waited with him and the other woman for the paramedics to arrive. I kept looking out to this 4 lane busy intersection and was confused and angry as to why no one was pulling over. You hear that this happens, that people dont want to get involved and so people walk by someone who is hurt or stand by and watch a beating or rape and the list goes on and on... I have never understood this. This was someones husband, father, son, friend and coworker. What would you want others to do if that was you. I dont know how and when this happened, that people in society, put up blinders and refuse to get involved because they convince themselves that it isnt their business, even when someone is obviously hurt and in need of assistance. I believe that all of the hundreds of drivers that drove by without glancing over and inconveniencing their day by stopping are good people but that they were scared, paralyzed and convinced that someone else was going to help. I am reaching out today to suggest that rather than rely on someone else to stop, make the call and tend to the wounded, please stop, inconvenience yourself and help. There may come a day when you are lying on the pavement, hurt and in desperate need of help and wouldnt you want someone to stop for you? Look up from your phones, pay attention to each other, strangers or not. It is only through the service to others that we can change the world and make it a better place. -Meredith Hawkins -Founder & Director of GIVE GIVE. Connect. Volunteer. Make a difference.
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 21:13:49 +0000
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