I worked last night. Blogger is playing up yet again and my computer is having problems with Google Chrome.....minor irritations of the 21st Century...all of them.
Yesterday we went to Llandudno to get a few "summer items" from Debenhams. In two weeks time we are off to Sitges, to read books and to eat fish.
After a somewhat robust disagreement over a pair of green canvas shoes
"I am not sitting in a nice restaurant with you wearing those monstrosities" he said
We heard the most terrible scream and a very loud bang.
People from all over the store rushed to the central escalator bank where an elderly lady had fallen head first down the steps towards the ground floor. She looked in a dreadful state, but was conscious and was immediately surrounded by several members of the public and store staff.
If the woman looked semi conscious I would have immediately gone to help, but there is a sort of nurses' rule that I adhere to that thats if the casualty is being attended to and awaiting the ambulance don't intervene unless you have to, If the woman was losing her conscious level , I would have intervened, that's when an ITU nurse have their uses.......anyhow that is not why I am writing this post,
What struck me the most about this whole terribly upsetting incident was the genuine concern and upset the shoppers showed for this unfortunate woman. In this age of " the walk on by" I got the distinct impression that people were not just taking a rubberneck at the situation, they were, on a primeval and basic level, just genuinely concerned for a fellow human being who had cried out so fearfully , as we all went about our business in those little plastic bubbles we call "self"
I didn't buy the awful green deck shoes, Chris had been right...I did however find a more suitable brown pair. And in the overlong 20 minutes it took me to choose them and before the ambulance eventually arrived to collect the lady on the escalator I noticed that scores of people like myself quietly went over to the store railings to check on the woman's progress.
People cannot quite stop being caring...despite what most of us think in this hard, negative and selfish world
I think most people are caring...but newspapers think they get more sales by presenting only the disgusting and shocking...so decency doesn't get much coverage.
ReplyDeleteJohn, you should just let Chris 'dress you'! Remember you do not 'fit the stereotypical middle-aged gay man' image......remember? Trust him and all will be fine! As I did and do with Ron!
ReplyDeleteI am split on whether or not people are instinctively caring......so many are mainly concerned about themselves firstly.
I do the same John. Accident serious with no helpers...I'm in the middle of it doing what this nurse can do. Accident minor and plenty of help, I let others do their jobs. And the caring thing...it is there, all around us we just need to give it more air time than the idiots shooting up schools and malls.
ReplyDeleteA perfect post for today, I feel a little upset and down on the world right now and this was a bit of a tonic.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what the reaction would have been, had it been a young hooligan messing about and fallen?
ReplyDeleteI hope the lady is OK. I think we all have fond memories of our Grandparents which makes us instinctively concerned for elderly folks.
ReplyDeleteGreen deck shoes? I just bought trainers, one red, one blue hee hee
"Blogger is playing up yet again and my computer is having problems with Google Chrome" me too John.
there are a lot of nice people in the world, it's just that the newspapers don't often mention them, they would rather talk about the few bad apples in the cart.....
ReplyDeleteGill in Canada
I must say John that my experience has been exactly the same. A friend fell in the street a few weeks ago. A nearby shop keeper fetched out a chair and a cup of tea and then took her home in his van. Yes, the caring age is definitely not dead.
ReplyDeleteGlad you rejected the green shoes. They don't go with fish anyway.
(Most) people are basically caring individuals.
ReplyDeleteWhy not buy both pair? Sometimes it's good to run riot with your wardrobe.
I realise that you're talking about what sounds like might have been a major accident here, but on a less serious note:-
ReplyDeleteI remember many years ago seeing a middle-aged lady slipping over on the ice. I hurried, with several others, to aid her - by heaving her straight back onto her feet! On a later occasion I myself tripped up and went arse-over-tit on the pavement. Again, several people ran to help me and pull me up - BUT I just wanted to yell at them "For God's sake, just leave me alone! I'm dizzy with the shock and I want to be left to get my mind back in order, even if it means sitting here on the ground." But I was too disorientated to say anything so I let them lift me up. I think sometimes the person who wants to help also seeks reassurance that they haven't witnessed anything too serious.
I think people generally do care... I do.
ReplyDeleteThe couple who tried to walk past my 80 year old mother & me knocked over by gales in North Wales a few years didn't care but were shamed into helping when the girl from the bakery came to our aid & called them back !!!!
I agree with Jim that you should let Chris dress you. I'm so glad you got to see the caring side of people yesterday.
ReplyDeleteWear green shoes...you only live once.
ReplyDeleteJane x
John - I need some advice. We've just come home from a week in a large property where chickens roamed free. All week we were careful to make sure Elsie was on the lead when we went out the door. However, this morning a chicken got in the house without us realising. I threw myself at Elsie as she threw herself at the chicken. Even though she dropped it the chicken was dead. We are very upset this happened and have left a message with the owners but what can I expect? Can we still be held to blame if the chicken walked into no-man's-land? As you're a chicken and dog owner what's your opinion of our situation? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteandi
ReplyDeletedont sweat it.
chickens and dogs dont mix in general and if they are free range....then they run the risk of meeting up with dogs.... the hen owner will understand.... it was just one of those things...
if one of my hens leave my field then they are free targets for any predator..... wild or domestic
dont be upset x
a beautiful story...which shows that thank goodness we've not lost our compassion, our ability to empathize with a fellow human being in trouble :) but of course Chris was right...I mean green what were you thinking (he wouldn't go out much with me...I've a pair of shocking green clogs...that I LOVE!)
ReplyDeleteEverything Frugal Living UK said.
ReplyDeleteCan I come on holiday with you? I've got some nice red patent leather loafers I could wear?
Hope that lady goes on OK. I think most people are caring as a rule. I spoke too soon on my broadband connection - having a bit of bovver with Google Chrome myself so I guess it must be their end.
ReplyDeleteI love that you argue over shoes.
ReplyDeleteThere is hope for humankind.
I'm so glad people still help others in your neck of the woods... but Cro's question is a good one....
ReplyDeleteThere was a time when I didn't help. And I still feel a little guilty to this day:
My little dog Shelly (Peke cross) would always try to dig into the chook run and steal the chook food. I was fed up with bawling her out, filling in the holes and re-pegging down the wire so the chooks stayed inside. So one day when I was watching through the study window, I got malicious delight in seeing her gain access, but promptly be set upon by three large Shaver Browns who pecked and pecked her on her thick head while she ran round and squealed, trying to find her exit. I confess I strolled rather than ran, to rescue her.
Tearing up here. I am glad that people were concerned. There is far too much rubber necking, video taking rather than care here - particularly at car accidents.
ReplyDeleteThere is kindness out there. A bit hard to find sometimes, but still there.
ReplyDeleteThankfully people were concerned and caring.
ReplyDeleteThat wasn't my experience when an elderly lady fell down in front of a huge department store in the 70's in a city that would later be touted as one of the most hospitable cities in the U.S.
It was busy outside the store at that time of day and I was walking from college and heard the lady's elderly sister asking for help.
I was barely 18 and definitely was waiting on someone to run up and help. They didn't! Finally I took off my coat and wrapped it around the lady, listened to her heart and took her pulse and praying I was doing all this correctly. I heard nothing nor felt a pulse. People (middle aged people) were still standing there watching me. Finally a nurse (I love nurses) came running up and I told her what I thought and got up and left. I don't remember getting my coat. I was nauseous but more sick at heart because of my fellow man. It still hurts to this day.
I don't share this thinking I was some kind of hero, I think I was just scared into doing something.
I've heard the Welsh are just very kind.
Glad to hear that there are still caring people.
ReplyDeleteI know they are there, you just don't hear about them enough.
Hope you all have a blessed week! ♥
Ah, so there's still hope for the human race, then? Good to know. Those horror stories about people ignoring others in need... or being attacked... are haunting. Your tale is just the right antidote.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how caring people can be.
ReplyDeleteBut I have seen the opposite, one time for example as I was driving along a busy road I saw a woman sprawled on the foot path. It took me a while to find somewhere safe to pull the car in. I ran back to find none of the pedestrians passing her had stopped!
If we lose hope and think that nobody cares then we really are all lost...thankfully good kind people do exist. Enjoy your holiday.
ReplyDeleteHere, here.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what Chris would make of my green jelly shoes...
What Fly in the Web said. Most people are genuinely caring, but it's mainly the uncaring and anti-social who get the publicity. The fact is most of us are good at putting ourselves in other people's shoes, appreciating their difficulties and helping out where we can.
ReplyDeleteSo, it's an international thing! We were driving home from work last week and saw a fall on the sidewalk, there was someone on the phone and we could here the ambulance coming. My workmate looks at me and said "We are NOT stopping!". Turns out she admits to working in our hospital but doesn't ell people she's a nurse, ever.
ReplyDelete