I feel as though I have lived most of my life by the mantra of 'doing the next right thing'. Whatever that next right thing may be. This weekend, two friends were robbed at gunpoint and then pistol whipped. This is as scary as it is close to home on so many levels...
They were walking back to their car- on a street I most often park when I am in that neighborhood, and a man attacked them both. He pistol whipped them, robbed them, shot his gun in the air, held it to my friend's head and told her she was going to die. As if all of this isn't tragic enough... like wholly impossible to make sense of... when the man finally let them go (thankfully without killing them) and they ran for help NO ONE was readily willing to step up and help them. I cannot say whether I am more outraged or saddened or sickened by this. Finally, they did get help and are now being surrounded by love from friends and family.
The fact that they were mugged in such a violent way has got me wondering... why? What possesses someone to lose all sense of reality and attack people for what probably amounted to a few bucks and a couple of cell phones that were rendered useless hours later. I personally believe that humans are naturally good and non-violent beings unless otherwise provoked or forced to act out in violence. I get that the economy is bad, that people are down on their luck, out of work, hungry, angry, depressed and on and on, but what I do not get is when or how that switches to violence... I work in the prison system, with both violent and non-violent criminals regularly, and yet I still cannot wrap my head around why such violence exists in this world...
The other half of this story is equally disturbing and perplexing to me... WHO IN THE HELL sees two people who are bleeding and obviously shaken and doesn't IMMEDIATELY come to their aid?!!! Is our world so riddled with apathy that people can see someone hurt and not only do nothing, but have the gull to shoo them away? This makes both my stomach and heart ache simultaneously. While I am happy to see that their requests for help have been overwhelmingly paid attention to within their group of friends from facebook, but at the same time I am saddened that the response is so great over the internet and so completely lacking in the real life moment when they needed help.
It breaks my heart for something so terrible to happen to such awesome people... and while this may be a chance to lose faith in our human race, I say that this is a chance to open our eyes to something wider. We, each of us in our own lives, need to be making a conscious effort to live present and aware lives... that means, be present when you are walking down the street, be present when you meet someone new... treat all human lives with dignity and respect, you never know the last time someone was paid a complement or received praise. Be aware of what you say and do and how. Is someone close to you hurting ? Reach out. We can only get through this life with the assistance of others, so lets choose our circles wisely....take stock in your groups... how many of them would have dropped everything to help total strangers who are in distress on the street. And, if your answer is not most or all, I suggest you rethink who you spend your time with.
As for me, I can definitively say that most, if not all of my friends would jump right in and help out whenever, wherever, friend or stranger, and that is something to take into account, I have seen this first hand. Those people who wouldn't help on Saturday night, they are someone's friends, they need to be shown the proper way to treat other human beings, especially those in distress begging for help. So, there may be some crappy people out there, but I believe they are the minority for the most part. It is unfortunate that the two of them had to go through the original trauma, but it is comforting to see so many people pull together for them. That, in fact reloads my human race faith card... what we can accomplish when we rally together to help as opposed to hate is immeasurable... something none of us should ever forget. I do hope they catch that angry man who did this, but at least they can take some solace from the justice of love and friendship. Thanks for being such amazing people.
