Sunday, April 22, 2012

Kind or Stupid: Stopping Violence

I went out for my Sunday run today and took a new route.  Now I don't live in a dangerous area, but I don't live in the nicest area either.  I hadn't even gone a tenth of a mile when I saw a woman struggling with a guy.  I couldn't tell if they were horsing around or if she was in trouble, until I heard her say, "You're hurting me!", but she wasn't screaming or anything.

I stopped and asked if she was ok.

She said, "No." meanwhile the guy was trying to get his keys from her and wouldn't let her go.

I asked if she wanted me to call someone.  She didn't seem in mortal danger, so I didn't want to call 911 unless she wanted me to do so.

I got no answer and they started arguing.  I couldn't understand all that they were saying as it was a mixture of English and perhaps an African or Caribbean language.  They both had accents when they spoke in English.

I kept asking again and again if she wanted me to call someone.

Eventually, she got free and jogged one way while he jogged to his car.  She thanked me for stopping and assured me that she was OK, so I went on my way.

I'm not an especially brave person, but relying on my instincts I didn't feel that I was in danger, so I stopped.  Could have been really stupid of me, but I felt I needed too.

The rest of my run I thought about what I would have done if I did feel I was in danger. I wouldn't have stopped, but I couldn't let someone be hurt.  I probably would have run into the hospital (which is the closest building to where this happened) and tried to get help that way.

There are so many stories of people in trouble where no one stops to help, and so many stories where people do stop and help.  I can understand the reasoning on both sides, but now I know which side I am on.

1 comment:

  1. I'm glad you stopped and checked, just in case. I watched part of "What Would You Do?" this past Friday and it was about if people would help a young (teen to college age) girl if they thought she was in danger of being taken advantage of (the actress acted like she was drunk and the guy was going to take her home) or defending a girl who's boyfriend was being verbally abusive, things of that nature. It was very interesting to see that most of the people who came to the actors defense were women. Glad to know that people... women... are out there looking out for one another. I would have done the same thing you did. :)

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