By now many of you who follow the news have heard about the hit and run in Hartford CT. If not, the story isn't a pretty one. An elderly man is walking across the street and is missed by one speeding car driving in the wrong lane and then is hit by a second car, also in the wrong lane. The man was elderly, 78, and last I heard was paralyzed and in critical condition. This in and of itself is just a bad all around. But thanks to surveillance cameras, we saw something worse.
People walked by.
Cars drove around him. Some slowed to get a look at the carnage before driving off.
After what seemed like an eternity, a small crowd acknowledged him but they did nothing.
By sheer luck, a police cruiser JUST HAPPENED to be en route to another call and stumbled upon the scene. Had this not happened, I fear this man might have been dead by the time help arrived.
The initial outrage over this horrible crime seems to be settling down somewhat. The focus has shifted to apprehending the perpetrators with the state governor offering a hefty reward. The questions still linger about the cold response and many explanations have been given.
Some say it was due to shock.
Others point out a phenomenon known as the bystandar effect and is also known as the Genovese syndrome.
Many locals say that since it's a high crime area, they don't want to get "involved" by dealing with the police. It makes them look like a snitch.
Hartford is the capital of my home state. I was shocked when I saw this story for the first time on CNN.com. It had made national news.
All of us here would say that, without a doubt, we would have ran to the aid of this man. But how many of us have been in this situation before? I'm a bit cynical of this world so the indifference that many are going on about is where my thoughts lie. I'd hate to think that this is where we're heading and a major part of it is happening in my backyard.
Below is the video of the accident. It really pissed me off when I first saw it. I could feel the chill coming off the screen. But maybe I'm seeing it wrong. What do you guys think? What would you have done? Do you think shock can come off as indifference? Have you ever been shocked at something terrible that you saw? How did you handle it?
Unload here.
