PARDON MY CYNICISM

   On Thursday, here in Toronto, an interesting scene played itself out to a strange conclusion. Two men driving in a van were rear-ended, and became so angry when the driver responsible failed to stop, that they drove in pursuit of him. They chased him for some distance until they saw the vehicle ram into a hydro pole and burst into flames. At that point (the two are quoted as saying) 10 to 20 people gathered about and stood doing nothing while the driver inside screamed for help. He could not get out. Then, the two that he had rear-ended moments earlier, broke the windshield so they could get him out and save his life. How incredibly lucky this criminal type was, to have encountered two people so unlike himself. You have to wonder just how far the others would have taken their spectatorship. You can imagine them starting to place bets on how long before the car exploded, or maybe how long until the trapped driver stopped screaming. Can you just see someone pulling out a camcorder and getting some nice home movies? Some hotdogs would materialize, seemingly out of nowhere, followed magically by some buns. Everyone could have toasted them over the flames, and chatted it up a bit, maybe exchanging some phone numbers and making a new friend or two.
   My apologies if I sound macabre or even cynical about my species, but I've taught school for too long. It's not just the "herd instinct" we had at work here. That theory supposes that the good folk are simply frozen by the need for someone to "go first". It should follow then, that when someone else does take the initiative, the rest would be freed up to join in. This story from Toronto blasts big holes in that cozy little theory. There are no details of others joining in the rescue efforts once the two pursuers got things started. No, I've seen exactly this kind of thing too often in the classroom. One group of students after another has taught me that it doesn't work that way. There are too many who react to such scenes by taking the time first to calculate the danger it would place them in, and then, exactly what recompense they could expect for tackling the whole thing. They do not think "Someone else will surely help". Instead, they think, "Why should I do anything? Count me out." Then they watch to see how much entertainment there might be in it for them. They watch without any feeling of compassion. They watch without emotion. So many of our species have no feeling for anyone but themselves.