I saw someone die the other day.

[VladtheDestroyer]

It was at this huge outside plaza in front of strip mall, where I catch the subway to work. The paramedics were already working on him when I got there. Alone, heavy set, over 6 feet, mid to late 50s, grey hair. Laying on his back, stripped down to his boxer shorts. It seemed to me like someone should be there. I waited for a minute, but everyone just kept walking by. Not even looking at what was going on. So I left too, and walked around the corner where I could still see. 100 people walked by and no one batted an eye. And it was so sad to see how hard the medic who was giving him chest compressions was working. He must have gave it a good 10 minutes. And nobody even seemed to care. They just cared about doing their shopping. It made feel like I wanted to start yelling at everyone "Hey! This man is dying!"

I cannot stop thinking about this. When I was kid, if a fire truck or an ambulance came to a house on your street, the entire neighbourhood would be outside and showing concern. Even neighbours who normally hated each other would be asking each other, "Hey did you see what happened? I hope he is going to be okay!" and they would become friends on that day!

 

[drbrumley]

Empathy is something that has been lost for some time now sadly.

 

[annabenedetti]

It was at this huge outside plaza in front of strip mall, where I catch the subway to work. The paramedics were already working on him when I got there. Alone, heavy set, over 6 feet, mid to late 50s, grey hair. Laying on his back, stripped down to his boxer shorts. It seemed to me like someone should be there. I waited for a minute, but everyone just kept walking by. Not even looking at what was going on. So I left too, and walked around the corner where I could still see. 100 people walked by and no one batted an eye. And it was so sad to see how hard the medic who was giving him chest compressions was working. He must have gave it a good 10 minutes. And nobody even seemed to care. They just cared about doing their shopping. It made feel like I wanted to start yelling at everyone "Hey! This man is dying!"

I cannot stop thinking about this. When I was kid, if a fire truck or an ambulance came to a house on your street, the entire neighbourhood would be outside and showing concern. Even neighbours who normally hated each other would be asking each other, "Hey did you see what happened? I hope he is going to be okay!" and they would become friends on that day!

When I was a kid and we heard a siren, my mom would say a quick prayer for the person in distress, and ask God to have mercy on them if it was their time. I still do that to this day. You don't know, but maybe there were people praying for them when they passed by. Honestly, I'd rather see people keep walking (seeing that he was receiving medical aid and wasn't alone and unaided) than see them pull out their phones and start taking video of a dying man. May his soul rest in peace. I do understand what you mean about the hugeness of it, that this man's soul was traveling out of this world. That everything in this life had come to a final end. That can really stay with you.

As for neighbors... I've lived in wildfire country for most of my life. It was a common thing when there was a fire for everyone in the neighborhood to come outside and gather wherever we could get the best view, and gauge whether there was need to take action or not, and if not, let the kids watch the firetrucks and water drops. On a city street, though, it's a little different. I think had this happened in a neighborhood and not in front of a strip mall, it might've been different.

 

[VladtheDestroyer]

..pull out their phones and start taking video of a dying man.

Oh man, I didn't even think about that. Thankfully that's not a very big thing where I live, else that would have been even more worse.

 

[Nick M]

I cannot stop thinking about this.

It might fade away. And come back again later.

 

[VladtheDestroyer]

It might fade away. And come back again later.

I have seen people die in their homes before. What was bothering about this particular situation was the lack of reaction in others as it was a public scene.

 

[JudgeRightly]

I have seen people die in their homes before. What was bothering about this particular situation was the lack of reaction in others as it was a public scene.

This is what happens when we raise a generation on thinking that it's okay to kill the baby in the womb.

 

[Thunder’s Muse]

It was at this huge outside plaza in front of strip mall, where I catch the subway to work. The paramedics were already working on him when I got there. Alone, heavy set, over 6 feet, mid to late 50s, grey hair. Laying on his back, stripped down to his boxer shorts. It seemed to me like someone should be there. I waited for a minute, but everyone just kept walking by. Not even looking at what was going on. So I left too, and walked around the corner where I could still see. 100 people walked by and no one batted an eye. And it was so sad to see how hard the medic who was giving him chest compressions was working. He must have gave it a good 10 minutes. And nobody even seemed to care. They just cared about doing their shopping. It made feel like I wanted to start yelling at everyone "Hey! This man is dying!"

I cannot stop thinking about this. When I was kid, if a fire truck or an ambulance came to a house on your street, the entire neighbourhood would be outside and showing concern. Even neighbours who normally hated each other would be asking each other, "Hey did you see what happened? I hope he is going to be okay!" and they would become friends on that day!

Death is something society tends to avoid thinking about. It’s awkward and a lot of people just don’t know what to say or do. It doesn’t mean they weren’t affected by it, it’s just easier to pretend it isn’t happening.

It sounds like it really had an impact on you. How are you doing with it now?

 

[VladtheDestroyer]

Death is something society tends to avoid thinking about. It’s awkward and a lot of people just don’t know what to say or do. It doesn’t mean they weren’t affected by it, it’s just easier to pretend it isn’t happening.

It sounds like it really had an impact on you. How are you doing with it now?

Are you a Christian?

 

[Thunder’s Muse]

Are you a Christian?

To be perfectly honest with you, I’m kind of lost in that regard.

Why do you ask?

 

[VladtheDestroyer]

To be perfectly honest with you, I’m kind of lost in that regard.

Maybe my English is not so good. What do you mean?

 

[Thunder’s Muse]

Maybe my English is not so good. What do you mean?

It means I am struggling with my faith in God

 

[VladtheDestroyer]

It means I am struggling with my faith in God

Why? What happened?

 

[VladtheDestroyer]

Anyways, the whole thing is just as sad today as it was back then.

 

[Ps82]

People have been taught to stay out of the way in a tragedy and allow medics to work unobstructed. The man was really not alone. Someone had already called for help for him and it had arrived. But I agree with you that people just don't seem to care about others as they once may have. It has drifted into hating one another. Very sad. People may have said a prayer for him and actually you cared! That was a humane thing. Annabenedetti made some good points.

 

[Idolater]

When I was a kid and we heard a siren, my mom would say a quick prayer for the person in distress, and ask God to have mercy on them if it was their time. I still do that to this day. You don't know, but maybe there were people praying for them when they passed by.

Prayer is one of those things we're committed to if we're Christians. Not that you are duty bound to pray all the time (beyond Mass attendance, we're not obligated to pray at all, not even a lick), but that it must mean something, and prayer must do something. It's part of God's invisible yet very real spiritual economy.

Honestly, I'd rather see people keep walking (seeing that he was receiving medical aid and wasn't alone and unaided) than see them pull out their phones and start taking video of a dying man. May his soul rest in peace. I do understand what you mean about the hugeness of it, that this man's soul was traveling out of this world. That everything in this life had come to a final end. That can really stay with you.

We're all so blessed to live in an age of World peace as compared to during WWII for example, when death was so common for a while that a thing like this was by contrast and in context very mild.

As for neighbors... I've lived in wildfire country for most of my life. It was a common thing when there was a fire for everyone in the neighborhood to come outside and gather wherever we could get the best view, and gauge whether there was need to take action or not, and if not, let the kids watch the firetrucks and water drops. On a city street, though, it's a little different. I think had this happened in a neighborhood and not in front of a strip mall, it might've been different.

Solzhenitsyn's Nobel speech talked about how a country, through its literature, could share with other countries lessons learned from experiences the other countries wouldn't need to endure in order to learn. He thought literature was a means of advancing the general quality of life, writ large, at scale. Seems like living under the regular threat of wild fires would teach you lessons that we all could learn from, even though we might never experience that exact threat ourselves, perhaps the lessons learned from the regular threat of wild fires could inform our contingency planning in other contexts more germane to us. For example I'd imagine you might have a different or more sharply defined policy re irreplaceable stuff. idk.

 

[annabenedetti]

We're all so blessed to live in an age of World peace as compared to during WWII for example, when death was so common for a while that a thing like this was by contrast and in context very mild.

Not to mention countries where the dead lay in the road. India. Africa. Disease, malnutrition, nowhere to go, no one to take them in. As for war, apart from 9/11, we've been separated geographically from almost every world conflict. It makes it seem far away, happening to someone else. We take it for granted. Someday, I think our day will come.

Solzhenitsyn's Nobel speech talked about how a country, through its literature, could share with other countries lessons learned from experiences the other countries wouldn't need to endure in order to learn. He thought literature was a means of advancing the general quality of life, writ large, at scale. Seems like living under the regular threat of wild fires would teach you lessons that we all could learn from, even though we might never experience that exact threat ourselves, perhaps the lessons learned from the regular threat of wild fires could inform our contingency planning in other contexts more germane to us. For example I'd imagine you might have a different or more sharply defined policy re irreplaceable stuff. idk.

That's thoughtful. Yes, I was talking to a sibling of mine who's taken in other family this week who had to evacuate from a destructive wildfire in another state. We were talking about no matter the material loss, there's always the understanding that as long as the loved ones are safe (and the pets, who are also loved), everything else can be rebuilt or replaced. It's a reminder that nothing is permanent, and attachment to material things (even when those things have meaning and are loved... family photos, mementos, etc.) - those things pale in comparison to the safety and wellbeing of the people. But then that same goes for tornado country, hurricane country, flood zones, etc. Everyone has their thing that puts them on alert, that snaps them to attention.