where's the humanity gone to?

synchro

yesterday i went for a spin with my dad
en route we noticed a smell of petrol, so we thought it was our car,we didnt really think it was summit to worry bout too much, but at the same time we pulled in as soon as we could
we were going into a supermarket anyway, and we were outside the supermarket when we first got the smell
we parked up in the supermarket away from other cars and ppl just iun case,
my dad lifted the bonnet, we looked around for drips, maintained a distance at the same time
no signs of petrol dripping
suddenyl alittle flame started to appear and it built up
i immediately ran for the supermarket in search of a fire extinguisher - legged it now

once i got into the supermarket i started shouted something like: "fire extinguisher fire extinguishers,there's a car on fire outside"
as i was saying this i was scanning the area for others to come to my aid and help me find an extinguisher and follow me out with another one.
the first comment i was met with after my shout for help was:
"wat ya lookin at me for?!" - (this individual looked about 35 years old and was with his ~7 year old kid)and I did not zone in on any individual.
with noones help i found the extinguisher. on exiting the supermarket, i instructed one costumer to alrt staff since none were around at the time nor did any costomers alert them
after instructing this random costumer he said to me:
"im not workin here"
so i said "it doesnt matter just do it!" (this random loked about 55+ years old)
it happens tat tis random person did not alert anyone, and i told him exactly where the car was and everything
btw if tis had any influence i was wearing shorts and i look about 18 and i was unshaven (just stubble) however stil very presentable(if tis makes any difference!)

i ran out to the car and the flame didnt grow too too much but the extinguisher certainlly helped
there is quite a bit of damage done to the engine as you can imagine

I am not so concerned about the issue regarding wat happened with the car but moreso the issue of noone coming to my aid
I just cant believe it really
PLZ plz comment on tis post
any pschycoligical/sociological info or any info at all would be much appreciated.
maybe you could also say wat you would have done if your were in the supermarket at the time and you heard and saw me in me hour of need!
thanks ppl!

Sleepy

If you speak the way you type, you have your answer there.

simu

Time to enroll for Psychology 101!

StonedParadoX

Sleepy wrote:

If you speak the way you type, you have your answer there.

ignorant?

Neuro

synchro wrote:

any pschycoligical/sociological info or any info at all would be much appreciated.

You've just had first-hand experience of a psychological phenomenon known as the Bystander Effect. Simply put, the more people that are present in an emergency situation, the less likely they are to help because they assume someone else will help instead.

amp

I was trying to find some sort of Humanities angle to this "OMG MY DADS CAR WENT ON FIRE AND NO ONE HELPED" post. The only I can think of is: Are people becoming more apathetic with regard to helping each other?

So let's roll with that for the moment.

synchro

Neuro wrote:

You've just had first-hand experience of a psychological phenomenon known as the Bystander Effect. Simply put, the more people that are present in an emergency situation, the less likely they are to help because they assume someone else will help instead.

interesting, tat explains a lot of ppls inaction alrite
interesting link there btw
but it doesnt explain why tat guy bother to pass any comment if it wasnt gonna help the situation, wat made him feel i was zoning in on him
but given tat i was younger than practically all of the ppl around me at the time, i would have thought someone would have come to my aid, referring to the link on the bystander effect; i would not have turned any help available away since whoever would have offered the help would be thanked for it since they would have been older and therefore wiser and therefore would know what to do
there imo there should have been no hesitation in any of my elders present

solas

I was trying to find some sort of Humanities angle to this "OMG MY DADS CAR WENT ON FIRE AND NO ONE HELPED" post. The only I can think of is: Are people becoming more apathetic with regard to helping each other?

So let's roll with that for the moment.

meh..

Sleepy

StonedParadoX wrote:

ignorant?

What I meant was, if he talked as incoherantly as he types it's quite possible that either:

a) most of the people in the shop hadn't a clue what he was talking about

or

b) most of them thought he was a knacker and didn't feel safe offering help.

solas

synchro, I'd say if you were running around like a headless chicken shouting to alert staff and what not, if I had been there I'd probably have thought "bomb" straight up and yea..probably would have expected someone else to contact the emergency services.

but anywho..
I think that there is a general feeling of apathy circulating and for the most part I reckon everybody's worn out from all the excitement of the last few years. (wars terrorists, crazy presidents, conspiracy theories and aliens)
As far as I know that numbness is a natural protective mechanism. Remember when we all cared..tis a terribly exhaustingly emotional thing to give a crap.

Evil Phil

Reminds me of the time I got knocked off my motorbike into the path of an on comming car. The driver saw me getting knocked down but sat there beeping the horn until I dragged myself out of the way - then they drove on. The mind boggles ...

simu

solas wrote:

but anywho..
I think that there is a general feeling of apathy circulating and for the most part I reckon everybody's worn out from all the excitement of the last few years. (wars terrorists, crazy presidents, conspiracy theories and aliens)
As far as I know that numbness is a natural protective mechanism. Remember when we all cared..tis a terribly exhaustingly emotional thing to give a crap.

I disagree. Most people have had no direct contact with such events - watching the news and seeing an accident in front of you are too very different experiences.

Synchro: Stop using text speak! It makes you look like an idiot!

solas

Most people have had no direct contact with such events - watching the news and seeing an accident in front of you are too very different experiences.

as the resident psychologist no doubt your right.

simu

solas wrote:

as the resident psychologist no doubt your right.

amp

/me puts thread down