Not getting involved!

[Irish]

I wondered about everyones feelings on this.Maybe it bothers me more,because my youngest grandson is autistic!I heard this on the radio news yesterday,& I can't get it out of my mind.
Malden,Mass.
A mother,who lived in a housing complex,asked a neighbor,to watch,her 5yr old,autistic son,while she went to the basement,to
use the laundry facilities.Somehow,the boy,made it down,3 flights of stairs,clad only in diapers.Another neighbor,looked down&saw a body,in diapers,floating,face down,in the complex pool.She
immediately called 911.When Police&EMTs arrived,they found,at
least,a dozen people,standing around the pool&pointing to where
he was floating.Not one had removed him from the pool.A police
spokesman,was asked,by the newsmedia,if removing the body
and giving CPR,might have saved his life.He replied:We don't know yet,how long he has been dead,but the awnser is obvious,
You figure it out!It was worth a try!
That's one of the reasons,that I appreciate someone,who will
"watch my back!"No one wants to get involved anymore.Every-
one worries about,the "possible"consequences,instead of the
immediate problem.Does this bother anyone but me? Irish
P.S.Many autistic children can't talk or yell.My 7yr old autistic
grandson,carries a book,with velcro backed pictures.When he wants something,he points to the picture.

[Steph]

Jesus, who could just stand there?

[Teddy Bear]

Irish, It bothers me tremendously!!!! I am a firm believer in "you watch my back-I'll watch yours". I can not understand how those people could just stand there and let that child float away to death. It matters not that he was autistic, they had no way of knowing that when he was in the pool..... he was a living-breathing-human being,,,, a child who had never wronged any of them in his sweet life. I assure you, had I been there I would've been in that pool doing whatever I could. I pray that the people in that crowd never lose a child due to the 'non-actions' of another.

When my youngest was 4 years old we where in Washington, DC. I thought my husband had her, he thought I did... auggggg, she wandered off, not a good place to lose a kid, a lady in the crowd saw the panic on my face and helped us look for her. Out of the hundred or so people there she was the only one. My darling girl had simply gotten tired & had gone to sit on the steps, as my husband raced down the stairs to get to the park ranger at the bottom she said "Hi Daddy". She was hugged, then lectured, then hugged again, And this lady was hugged and thanked over & over for her help. (she cryed with me when we found my baby) There are angels in disguise living among us.

Thanks for sharing Irish. I hope more people will be brave enough or strong enough to get involved in the future to help out a fellow human being.

*huggggs* Teddy :)

[Cheyanne]

I must be naive.... I can't believe that NO ONE got into the pool to help the child.....

It would be my natural instinct to jump in and pull the child out of the water... and then give CPR - and if I hadn't been trained in CPR, I would just do it anyway. I don't understand why no one did!!!

My heart hurts for the boy, his mother, and for the stupid people who stood around watching and doing nothing......

[Irish]

T.B.---Especially,with your kids,you don't even think.When my
daughters were little,we used to rent a vacation cottage,on
Great East Lake,every year.My oldest daughter,& I,were,sit-
ting,on the end of a boating dock,fishing,one day.She must have
gotten hypnotised,by the water.I suddenly heard"dadeee"!I looked and she was 1/2 way to the water.I bet that I hit the
water before she did.My feet were on the ground and I was
holding her over my head.I thought"What am I doing?I can swim
under water farther than I can on top"You don't think,you just
react.That's one of the reasons that I can't understand their
non-action! Irish
P.S.By the way.I even saved my fishing gear,that I had thrown.
The pole had a cork-type grip.

[Aqua]

Holy cow! I can't believe everyone just stood there!! There is not a chance I would have stood and watched it happen. If I got there and somebody told me the child had been floating there for a long time and was surely dead, I would have tried CPR anyway. I'm with you Irish! This story has my blood boiling... :mad:

[Irish]

I have seen many cases,where a person was"clinically"dead.
When given CPR or artificial recussitation,they came"back to
life!Everything is worth a try! Irish

[dicksbro]

Unfortunately, I can believe it. I don't want to, but I can. Too many examples. I remember one time in St. Louis seeing a police officer leaning over a person laying on a sidewalk. I stopped, offered to help or make a phone call. While he declined the offer (it was a drunk sleeping it off), he told me I was the first person in 25 years to offer to help him with anything. I couldn't believe that either.

Dang it, it makes me mad to think that people can be so callous towards our fellow people. Too bad there weren't pixies around, maybe that little one would still be with us.

[Christine]

That was just heartbreaking to read.
I don't know...the world’s a crazy place and a lot of times it seems like the easiest choice is not to care, but with a child involved it seems almost unbelievable that no one acted.

[Scarlett]

It is rather amazing that everyone just stood there watching a child (or anyone) float in the water. I just can't understand it.

[Steph]

When I took a Psych course, there was a famous study of a woman being raped in New York. She screamed for help and tons of people heard and ignored it. How can you do that?

The other day at the laundromat, a guy in his 20s was giving the employee a hard time. She's in her 60s and there was no way I was standing by. I told him to fuck off and pick on someone his own age, size and gender.

[BlueSwede]

I could never imagine NOT helping in all the world. :(

[IAKaraokeGirl]

Originally posted by Steph
When I took a Psych course, there was a famous study of a woman being raped in New York. She screamed for help and tons of people heard and ignored it. How can you do that?



Kitty Genovese (1967? 1968?)...*very* famous...raped and killed....and it's such a shame we all didn't learn from that.

[dadaist]

...I did read this in the Chicago Tribune today.

Campers in Utah save teen from bear attack

Associated Press
Published July 10, 2003

SALT LAKE CITY -- A black bear tried to drag a teenager out of his sleeping bag as he and other campers slept in a canyon--the first bear attack in Utah in 11 years, officials said.

Nick Greeve, 18, was treated for puncture wounds and lacerations at a hospital in Price and released, officials said. He was on his way home to West Linn, Ore., on Wednesday.

The animal grabbed him by the head and neck, but the other campers chased the bear away after hearing Greeve's screams.

"Bear attacks like this are extremely rare, but they do occur," said Craig McLaughlin, mammals coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources.

Wildlife officers tried to find the bear to kill it, but the animal apparently had left the area, said Bill Bates, southeastern region wildlife manager for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

Greeve was part of a group of 15 campers and five instructors from the Utah Outdoor Leadership School who were sleeping in the open early Monday in the canyon, about 120 miles southeast of Salt Lake City.

The group was on an 80-mile raft trip on the Green River.

Bruce Palmer, executive director of the National Outdoor Leadership School headquarters in Wyoming, said it was the first time he had heard of a bear attacking one of the school's groups. The school, founded in 1965, specializes in whitewater rafting trips in areas including Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, Chile and New Zealand.

"We do operate in remote areas. There's a whole variety of risks," Palmer said.

[BigBear57]

God Irish I'm with you. Things like that you don't have tothink about, you just react to. I think as a parent and also as an uncle many times over from having 5 brothers I'm just tuned to the sound of a frantic child or the sight of a child about to get in trouble. In the world we live in today, I know one day I'll react to a situation and somebody will have the wrong idea but hell I can't help myself. LOL I even jump in WalMart when I hear a stray "DADDY!".

[Sharni]

What sorta fuckwit would stand there and do nothing.....

Damn i just love the way the worlds going (Sarcasm there if ya cant tell)

[IAKaraokeGirl]

When in Denver last month, we took a brief self-defense course in karate. The instructor told us that even shouting, "Rape!" or "Fire!" is not effective anymore. Apparently what they are teaching now is, if you're in trouble, to yell, "Take your hands off my child!" The theory is that people are more willing to help if children are involved. Sadly, Irish's story doesn't necessary prove that point.

[buffay]

That really hits hard at home for me. My son is autistic even tho he can speak he is on a 3yr old level and he will be 3 in 2 months. The thing that scares me the most is that he does not respond to his name so I have to be right next to him at all times. There have been a few close calls in public of him running off and getting to close to the street or at the mall too close to the railing. And the real scary thing is htat I have had NO help from anyone other then family members, when he runs off. I have to say that story is really scary to me....

Buffy

[Lilith]

I think there will be more to the story....

IAKGirl I was taught to yell ...."Fuck You...Get Your GOD DAMN hands off me" works for shock value...makes people look. Even if they don't help the can be a witness.

Buffy~ ((hugs)) first...I have done alot of work in the past with kids with PDD like yours...they are a challenge, pleasure and a joy to teach.....I have worked with students who were "runners" and know how scared you can get!!

[BamaKyttn]

Well lately I've had threats made against my life, I have concrete evidence of this. My G/F has had similar though less dire threats made against her and yet the police tell me that though he said he was going to kill me and put my body in a dumpster there was nothing I could do until he physically assulted me whereas my G/F who dated him 2 years ago can get a protection order (if he violates he goes to jail) even tho he only threatened her reputation. I'm so scared and upset, We're planning on moving even changeing our names..... what d'you think of Fiona?

[dadaist]

Hi Fiona, nice to meet you!

I'd agree with the moving and no forwarding address. Get the hell out of Dodge.

[mindboxer505]

commenting on BBears comment about Walmart........if your in one of the stores and hear a code adam.....listen for the description and help.....ive heard many and while scouring through my areas have seen plenty of employees.......er excuse me....."ass-ociates" keep doing what they were.......pissing me totally off !!!
Code Adam is the code for a lost or missing child........interesting enough alot of them is the child looking for their parent. normally the childs hair and shoes are the key items to look for or their clothing........

[cowgirltease]

Hell Yes it bothers me! The damned idiots!:mad:

[osuche]

Jesus. Many people just seem to take the easy way out anymore.