Small wonder people are reluctant to get involved

[draconis]

This weekend, Rhi and I were on our way to get a bite to eat at a European-style cafe we're fond of. It was a beautiful (if chilly) spring morning.

Then we come to a spot where traffic has stopped in both directions, and we see a small crowd of people attempting to manhandle one very large gentleman across the street. It shouldn't have made any difference that the individual was black and that the group was almost entirely white, but this is still the South, and such things are unfortunately still relevant.

Rhi was driving, and I asked her to pull over. I wasn't sure what was going on, but clearly something was amiss.

This is when we noticed that they were dragging the gentleman towards the Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital. Until this point, I honestly wasn't sure we didn't have some sort of assault going on.

Okay, at this point we had pretty good odds that the individual was an escaped patient who didn't want to go back in -- but this was a LARGE gentleman, and if he'd turned violent most of the people around him would have been flattened. Most of them couldn't have dealt with a single blow from this guy.

I hopped out of the car and went over, getting there just about the time they put him face-down in the grass by the sidewalk, and 6 of them are literally sitting on top of him to hold him down. I walked up behind an older gentleman standing there, and asked softly if everything was all right, and was anyone in need of assistance?

Before he can even reply, this short redheaded woman with a major attitude comes over and orders me to move along. I gave her the typical hands-open conciliatory gesture and let her know that I had just stopped to see if everything was all right, and to offer my assistance if it was needed. She repeated her order that I'll have to move along, right now, that this is a confidential patient matter and I couldn't be there.

I've never cared for officious pricks. I found myself unable to resist (although admittedly, I didn't try as hard as I might've) pointing out to her that this was a public sidewalk, and that any confidentiality issues were moot in light of the fact that this was happening in public. Her response to this was to inform me that the Vanderbilt Police had already been called, and when they got there they would make me move along.

Those of you who know me, know that I do not respond well to threats... but I was good, I stayed calm, and again repeated that I had only stopped to see if assistance was needed. I was in the process of saying that I would go since my help was clearly neither needed nor welcomed, when the gentleman I'd originally approached spoke for the first time, thanked me for my efforts, and wished me a good day.

People complain that no one wants to get involved any more, that everyone always looks the other way when they see something happening. When the people you're trying to help give responses like this, is it any wonder that no one wants to get involved?