so, this has been an interesting little weekend filled with all sorts of things.
yesterday, i got my first crack at supernerdery. i mean, geocaching. it's really not as nerdy as it sometimes sounds, but i had an enjoyable enough time searching for little things around town in a high tech scavenger hunt type of way. we went twice on saturday, and it was more fun when we made a little competition out of it. and when we actually found things.
last night, we went and saw m.night shamalamadingdong's movie, the happening. i enjoyed it. i won't tell you anything about it, although marky mark, whom i enjoy, makes me chuckle @ points just due to his voice. he'll say something, and it will take me back to fear (nicole 4 eva). some of the foreshadowing was a little ham-handed, but i did like the film. go see it before you hear too much (if you're so inclined) because it'll be one of those movies that the word will spread and it can spoil it for you. i will warn you that it is graphic. and it's also r rated. so, i'm not really sure why there were kids in the theater for our 10:20 (PM!) show.
on the way home, we drove a guy passed out in a dirt lot behind one of the bars by our place. i didn't see him, but heather did and so we looped back to check out if he was okay. i had seen his shopping cart knocked over, but not him, and i had a good idea which of the regular homeless guys of the area. it was. when we had initially drove by i did see a car passing where he was in the lot and not stopping. when we pulled up, another guy, who was out picking up cans, was also there. basically the guy was super drunk and passed out, but he was sort of convulsing, so i called 911. there was also another car there, and these people did ask if the guy was alright, but when they saw i was calling for help they rightfully were able to leave the scene. now, i mention this story because it was odd to me the number of people in the area doing nothing. it's not like i did some amazing thing, i called a phone number. but while we were on the scene, there were easily a half dozen people that were standing with this guy in their line of sight that hadn't done anything. this guy had been there a while. and, while we were there another dozen or so walked by and didn't pay any mind. the cops weren't there, i was off the phone, so it's not like they knew help was on the way. but they just passed by.
die hard was on when we got home, and although it was edited for tv, i ended up watching a good hour of it before i went to sleep. got to pick that up on dvd.
this morning has been enjoyable. i watched a track meet (from oslo) on espn2. yesterday, i watched part of the ncaa championship meet on cbs. while i was happy to track and field on tv, i was frustrated by the coverage of the meet on cbs. i repeatedly griped about it to mike and adam, who were over @ the time. the coverage today was much better. i think the overall coverage was an hour shorter, but i know i saw a whole lot more of the meet. some networks know how to do some sports it seems. espn, naturally does a good job covering pretty much every sport they show. they really think about it. cbs does a great job w/college basketball and football, but the don't have a clue with track and field. nbc does a good job (i credit all their olympic experience), abc does okay (they're the same company as espn). fox sports does good work with the college meets they show. something funny about catching meets on cable is that you're not always sure when they happened. this meet was june 6th (today's the 15th) but it was still very enjoyable.
anyway, after the track coverage ended, the coverage of euro 2008 started, which i'm watching right now. today, both games are on simultaneously. i've been recording them both daily and watching most, today i'm only recording one and watching one. i'm not as intrigued by today's match ups. after these games i'll be recording the first game of qualification for the u.s. men's national team for the next world cup. i'll probably watch it this evening.
while recording that game, we'll be taking in a grizzlies game over @ the chuck'. it's father's day, and so heather and i are taking my dad to the game. we would have also taken her dad, but he had to be out of town this weekend. some other time. or, maybe we'll sneak up to sf and take in a game there.
finally, be on the lookout for the next episode of the view looks good from here, fresno. we'll be recording on monday evening, so the next one should go up on tuesday.
5 comments:
Your story about the drunk/homeless guy reminds me of a recent story of a 78 year old man getting hit by a car and no one stopped to help. Nine cars passed him lying crumpled in the road, including the one who hit him. Video also shows 40 seconds went by before anyone even stepped off the sidewalk to get a closer look, but still no one helped or tried to divert traffic. Finally almost 2 minutes later a police officer drove by and helped. That is absolutely appauling.
Some bystanders later said that it was a high crime area and they didnt want to get involved. He was an elderly man who got hit by a car and went flying, what does crime in the area have to do with that? Four people did call 911 but he was just lying in the street with traffic going by, he could have easily been hit again because no one stepped up to help him.
Although your incident is not as extreme a case, it is bothersome that people just watched and did nothing. I think when it comes to the homeless population and also people who are really wasted, people are far less willing to help. I can somewhat understand not wanting to approach someone in that situation because it could be unsafe but you are absolutely right that you can call 911 and get them help without being unsafe yourself. He could have easily died or been assaulted in that condition so good for you and Heather for doing something to help a human in need.
Link to the story:
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=5013503
You're a good guy, Ed Stewart.
I know it's sad, but a lot of people are just having to weigh in their own safety in these situations. I've heard of several occasions just in this area, some even involving police officers, where people have pulled over to assist people who they thought were in need of help, only to be shot or otherwise attacked by the people they're trying to help.
I know there are definitely alternatives to apathetically driving by, but it's just something to consider.
lulu, i saw that story the other day online. pretty frustrating to see that sort of thing happen, although some people did quickly place a call.
hmac, thanks. generally i hope and try to be.
dennis, first of all, let me just say that as i continue to watch the finals, paul pierce reminds me of you. second, back in the day when i was a teenager, before i had status and before i had a pager (that's a tribe called quest line btw) i was driving home @ night. i saw this big group in the street, and it looked like someone was down in the street. i was in a neighborhood that i thought was a bit shady and so i got a little panic-y and flipped a u-turn. now, that was a long time ago for me, chronologically as well as decision making, but i remember it well. i've always wondered if it was someone really in need or just me about to get jacked. i think i do it different today. but, i understand that people need to think about their own safety. and i'm not asking people to give the guy mouth to mouth (i wouldn't have). but i think you've still got to at least check. now that we've all got cell phones it's super easy to help a little.
something else about last night, the guy's shopping cart was there and was knocked over. so, he could just been super drunk, stumbled and knocked it over and then passed out. or, someone could have knocked it over after, or any sort of situation. so the whole scene really looked bad, almost like he had been clipped by a car or something which is kind of what caught our eyes. to me, this made (should have) it much harder for people to just look the other way.
one last thing, i really thought about this story for a while and whether or not to share it. i didn't want to post it as some sort of ego stroke for me. i read someone else's story one time and i finished it w/the feeling of "you all suck because you didn't and i'm so good because i did." i doubt the person meant it that way, but i felt it read that way. also, i didn't want anyone to feel bad for feeling/thinking/acting differently.
About three weeks ago Tomas and I took Sophia to Build a Bear on the Mall to celebrate her big move out of diapers and into big girl chonies. As we were walking down the hall I hear some kind of ruckus and screaming. At first I thought it was one of those drama type groups or something and then I see this latin woman being chased down the mall by the asian woman that works at the hair piece cart. The cart woman was accusing the customer of stealing her product and grabs the customers purse. Of course a fight ensues which is funny but also troubling. Come on ladies. Compose yourself please. They both looked like they could be in their 40s. I wanted to run over there, but I've got Sophia and she's noticed this now too. Not something I want the kiddo to see. Everybody just stood by and watched. I'm looking around at all the people and no one steps in. Not even just to split them apart so that security can get there and intervene. People just laughed. I'm standing there going, "somebody do something!" Tomas and I were in front of a store across the way and down a bit so he runs in to let the management know.
As a society, I think we've grown kind of numb. Between television and our internet home pages we are bombarded by so much violence that as a defense mechanism, we sit there and watch like it's entertainment or we just walk away like we're clicking a remote. Yesterday while I worked the day shift at the Landmark the baby in Turlock came up twice. Both times I wanted to break down sobbing over this, cause that's what I did when I first read it. But I'm supposed the be the witty bartender behind the bar, right? So I collected myself and moved on. My point to that, I don't know. I think I need to react more with action as opposed to sobbing behind the bar. But I don't want to lose my sensitivity to bad situations.
Oh my, that was way too much. I've been rambling, so I'll just leave you with that essay for now.
-miriam
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