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| Thread: Who wants to be a good Samaritan? | |
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Trogdor
Legendary Hero
Words in a custom title
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posted June 19, 2007 08:35 AM |
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Who wants to be a good Samaritan?
Just yesterday morning in Melbourne there was a shooting that took place. One rampaging gunman was trying to kill a lady, which of course is not a good thing to do by anyone's standards, and out of nowhere a good Samaritan tried to get the woman to safety, but it was too dangerous and too risky. The result? He ended up taking a bullet and in return the Samaritan died shortly either. It just goes to show how far is too far when it comes to helping strangers in troublesome situations, and has since become the cause of many a debate.
The question is this. Is it too risky to be a good Samaritan?
I have thought this through and I thought of all the possible situations. If you saw a couple feuding in public, would you try and intervene? If you saw a lost child, would you report them to their parents? If you found a wallet on the ground, would you bring it in to police or perhaps even a store owner nearby? If you saw a baby fall from a tall building, would you try and catch it? If you saw a shooting take place, would you take a bullet for the civilian/s who is in the middle of it all?
I have once lost a wallet on a bus, but a good Samaritan found it and I received it back the next day. I have also found wallets on buses which I returned to the bus driver, but unfortunately the heartlessness of individuals remains, particularly here in Australia. I've seen studies on current affairs programs which have shown that less people are willing to help. For instance, children whom are lost in the mall are ignored, even by law enforcement agencies, but it's the younger generation who ignored the lost children. The same thing happened when money was given to stores for honesty. The result? Most of them kept the cash. This is from a nation that embraced the idea of giving random people a 'free hug', yet we're not compassionate enough to give money back to it's rightful owners.
The same thing happened in the states, where a study shown that people are not willing to help a feuding couple. No wonder why their divorce rate is so high, and no matter why Jerry Springer is so popular. They consider feuding couples a joke at the couple's expense.
But that's just the basic dilemmas. I've seen footage of good Samaritans trying to help, most of these attempts successful. I remember seeing on the news that a cameraman who was at a live news cross of a car on fire with a man trapped inside and the cameraman went to the burning wreckage and brought the man to safety. I've also heard of a man in New York who saved a teenager from dying on the subway by ducking under the moving train for safety. These are the people who truly deserved their awards for bravery. If only there were more people like them.
Which brings me back to that guy who was shot trying to save a life, and the unanswered questions that will linger on for years to come. Is saving a life really worth taking a bullet in the process and if you did, would you die a hero figure?
If you have any thoughts on this please feel free to discuss.
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"Through the power of the dollar you can communicate with the dead." - Artu
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william
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
LummoxLewis
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posted June 19, 2007 10:09 AM |
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I think tat saving lives, even if it means you lose your own is a wonderful act, I mean, well it is kinda hard to describe, I just hope you know what I mean.
I would die for my family, just to keep them safe from getting shot or whatever.
The Samaritan did a good thing, and I think that he would be a hero figure within the persons family (the person he saved family), and perhaps some of the onlookers and perhaps his own family.
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~Ticking away the moments that
make up a dull day, Fritter and
waste the hours in an off-hand
way~
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alcibiades
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
of Gold Dragons
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posted June 19, 2007 11:38 AM |
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Personally, I think what the guy did was admirable. Sadly, any award of bravery will do him little good now.
I think there's a distinct line between what you can expect people to do, and then what you can call acts of bravery or being "good samaritans". Handing back a lost wallet to its rightful owner is for me not an act of compassion - that's plain duty. Helping a lost child in the mall is also something everybody should do without second thought. Simply because it costs them nothing, and is at no risk to themselves.
On the other hand, saving someone from a shooting or from being run over by a subway train is not something you can expect people to do. Of course, it's the noble and brave thing to do, but you can't blame others who were there for not doing it, how ever tragic the outcome might have been, simply because of the risk. In my oppinion, you cannot expect people to risk their own life to save others, even if it's the "right" thing to do. That must be a personal decision for the individual. That being said, I do think that the people who do take the risk decerve the recognition - call them "Heroes" if you want, though I don't particularly like this word.
I think the sad thing is that so few people bother to do the small things that makes so much of a difference. I'm not talking about saving others from a shooting - but about spending a couple of hours at fundraising events, for instance. To hand back the lost wallet or phone. To help the child who's lost in the mall. And it might even be something more related to themselves. From my personal life I can relate to this in various ways. I live in a dorm with 419 other students. It's a pretty big place, with lots of chores to administrate to make it run smoothly. I think about 90 % of the people living here never do anything to help out - that being either with one-off events like fixing the roof or daily chores. I think that's rather symptomatic for modern society, sadly. If 90 %, or even 50 %, did the job that's now left for those 10 %, more would be done, the result would be better, an I'm positive everybody would be more happy.
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What will happen now?
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TitaniumAlloy
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Professional
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posted June 19, 2007 12:10 PM |
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Even if it were admirable he doesn't care much now does he
Maybe back in medieval times dying for a cause was a good thing because you might get in a book or a video game centuries later and life probs wasn't that great anyway but now you just get a thread like this.
There is no glory in death.
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John says to live above hell.
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Guitarguy
Responsible
Supreme Hero
Rockoon.
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posted June 19, 2007 12:31 PM |
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Quote:
Is saving a life really worth taking a bullet in the process and if you did, would you die a hero figure?
This reminds me of something I read back in high school.
In his book The Things They Carried, Vietnam War vet Tim O'Brien presents two sides to a scenario involving heroic sacrifice. In his example, a group of soldiers are marching along a trail when an enemy grenade flies out and lands in front of them. One soldier, hoping to save the lives of his companions, dives towards the grenade and takes the full blast. The other soldiers survive due to their buddy's heroic sacrifice.
However, O'Brien proceeds to retell the story from another perspective. Here, the soldier dives for the grenade, which turns out to be doubly potent, killing the entire platoon anyway. The story concludes with the soldiers, who are now in the afterlife, asking their companion why he even bothered.
This story is kind of relevant to real life instances, like in the above shooting. Imagine if the gunman managed to kill the "tragic savior" along with the intended victim. One could still call it a heroic effort on his part, although it'll hardly detract from the impact of the tragic outcome. Heroic sacrifices with happier endings (ie: one person dies, saving another in the process) are understandably more meaningful and heartfelt than scenarios where nobody is saved. Sadly, in the spur of the moment, people don't really know if it'll be "worth it" or not to put yourself at risk. For someone trying to rescue another from a gunman's shots, that person makes him or herself vulnerable for the purposes of trying to save a life. But for them to successfully do so is no guarantee. In dangerous situations like these, the risks are high. Nobody should count on a storybook ending.
-Guitarguy
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Corribus
Hero of Order
The Abyss Staring Back at You
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posted June 19, 2007 04:39 PM |
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On separate occasions, I have left my wallet and a fairly new laptop on the train here in Philadelphia. Yeah, smart, I know. In both cases, especially the latter, I figured it was the last I would ever see of them. The laptop was especially troubling because it has all my work files on it. But, in both cases, the person who found the items went out of their way to return them to me. I was very grateful. I recognize that I probably just got lucky. In most cases, I would never have seen my wallet or laptop again. But... it is reassuring that there are still some decent people out there, maybe more than you might think.
In the case of simple acts like these, I try to do the right thing, because, having been on the receiving end of these acts of kindness, I know how much it is appreciated. If I found a wallet, I would not steal the money inside because that is wrong. I would try to return the wallet (but if I was unable to find the owner, then maybe I would take the money  .
Would I take a bullet for a stranger? Um... no. Sorry, but my charity only goes so far. But short of causing (or risking) irrepairable harm to myself, I always try to do the honest thing and help out a person in need.
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Binabik
Responsible
Legendary Hero
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posted June 20, 2007 11:31 AM |
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What kind of world do we want to live in? Do we want to live in a world that has good Samaritans, or a world where they no longer exist? We all contribute to the world we live in by our actions. Either we contribute to a world with good Samaritans or we contribute to one without. If I'm unwilling to put my life at risk to help someone, then I'm contributing to a world that I don't much care to live in. I choose to live in a world with good Samaritans, even if I'm the last damn one.
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baklava
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Mostly harmless
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posted June 20, 2007 05:01 PM |
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There is no glory in death.
There's no glory in life either...
Screw glory. Glory was invented so that people get up their masters' butts. Acts of goodness, like this, aren't done to get glory, or a place in Heaven, or even better in Washington Post, they're done from instinct and from the heart. And it's admirable.
I agree with Binabik. If people start thinking that way the world will be something along the lines of perfect. But that's pure fantasy, good people are pariahs of their own degenerate kind, with the most saying how they're great yet doing nothing except harming the world. So what can we do? Just wait to die out like dinosaurs and simply refuse to become senseless jerks like most humans...
I hate mankind... Wish I were a dolphin or something...
____________
"Let me tell you what the blues
is. When you ain't got no
money,
you got the blues."
Howlin Wolf
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violent_flower
Promising
Supreme Hero
Almost there.
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posted June 20, 2007 05:49 PM |
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Well, I love the hero stories and I always wonder if I would do the same. I helped save a women that was having a seizure in a ride called the octopus. She was way up high with her littler girl and flopping so violently that she was going to eject herself or the girl. The boy running it was young and scared so he was just starring up at them. I told my daughter to stay put, jump a metal fence and scale up the damn ride.
I then told the boy to slowly lower us; I kept her from swallowing her tongue and restrained her from falling out. The little girl told me, as they were loading up her mother, that her mom had cancer and was not going to live much longer, this was their last trip together before her death. I was so sad for her, to say the least it put a huge damper on the rest of my day.
Was I a hero? NO! I just knew someone had to do something. I would not risk my children's lives or my own outright to save someone else. I have children, and the case would have to be where I was not throwing myself in front of a bus or a bullet in order for me to save someone. Now fifty years from now I may have no problem throwing myself in front of a bus to save someone, but not at this point in my life.
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Geny
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
What if Elvin was female?
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posted June 20, 2007 06:51 PM |
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Quote:
What kind of world do we want to live in? Do we want to live in a world that has good Samaritans, or a world where they no longer exist?
I want to live in a world in which they don't need to exist and that's what I'm gonna try to achieve.
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DON'T BE A NOOB, JOIN A.D.V.E.N.T.U.R.E.
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Spectrum
Famous Hero
Plan B
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posted June 20, 2007 08:13 PM |
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I want to live in a world in which they don't need to exist and that's what I'm gonna try to achieve.
And you're doing that by promoting vodka. Good plan, might work, too
I would, I think, be the good Samaritan, although I can't say for sure since I've never actually been to such a situation.
But I think if someone does it, it's admirable and he will be remembered a hero, should it come to that. Binabik and Baklava are right. If there weren't people good enough to save others at the risk of their own life, this world would be a bad place to live in. Baklava, if you ever discover a way to become a dolphin...
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Aculias is like the male nipple of HC, TNT being the other one -Baklava
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baklava
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Mostly harmless
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posted June 20, 2007 08:28 PM |
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Baklava, if you ever discover a way to become a dolphin...
I'll let you know dude
For now, I'm still working on the tail part... It's kinda messed up, can't move regularly, just swirls around and breaks stuff. But in a couple of years... 
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"Let me tell you what the blues
is. When you ain't got no
money,
you got the blues."
Howlin Wolf
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