Hmmm, how did we reach a point in our society where fear outweighs compassion?
I had a bit of a mishap earlier this week when I was at Dundas Valley Conservation Area (DVCA) on one of my bug-crawl nature hikes. DVCA has a trail running through it that was once a rail line. A piece of track has been preserved with a vintage locomotive on display. The area around the tracks has a rocky base as rail lines always do.
Insects are drawn to artificial surfaces warmed by the sun. Hence, I was walking beside the locomotive scanning the side for insects and not paying attention to where I was walking. The rocks beneath my feet shifted a bit. You know what comes next. I lost my balance, staggered a few feet with arms flailing in a futile attempt to stay upright and went down.
Fortunately, other than a scraped and bruised knee, I was not injured. Unfortunately, my camera was in my right hand with the telephoto zoom lens fully extended. The lens took part of the brunt of my fall and snapped off taking part of the camera lens mount with it. But that misfortune is a sidebar to the purpose of this post.
There happened to be a woman about 30 or 40 feet away walking toward me when I took my tumble. I expected her to approach me and ask if I was okay. But she did not. She walked past me as I gathered myself and stood up with the shattered remains of my camera in my hands.
If the situation were reversed and I was the observer, I believe I would hurried over to ask if she was okay. However, looking back on the event, I realize it would have been a worrisome should I or shouldn’t I situation for her. There was no one else in the area so approaching a strange man, who might conceivably have faked his fall, would have felt like taking a risk.
An acquaintance of mine had a similar experience a few months back. She was walking to the grocery store and fell on the sidewalk. She called out to several passersby for help. But they all ignored her and kept on walking. She managed to struggle to her feet and get to the grocery store where a compassionate staff person helped her.
These experiences reveal a troubling reality in our society. What do you do when you see someone who appears to need help? The options:
Automatically come to the person’s aid putting aside the risks that might entail.
Call out from a distance to see if they are okay and evaluate their response for sincerity.
Adopt a not my problem, do not get involved attitude and look the other way.
We are all walking a tightrope when it comes to navigating our lives in a society where a percentage of the population is actively looking for opportunities to take advantage of others. Self-preservation clashes with a desire to be helpful.
I cannot condemn the woman who chose not to offer assistance to me. She watched me gather myself and carry on and judged it best not to get involved. But I cannot help but be saddened by the reality that compassion has become a victim of fear in our society. The biblical parable of the Good Samaritan has never been more relevant.
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~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .
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Tags: Dundas Valley Conservation Area · Good Samaritan · metaphor · Michael Robert DyetNo Comments