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> When she couldn’t find her way back home, confused and scared, she screamed for help. She banged on people’s doors and tried to claw her way into vehicles, se

> When she couldn’t find her way back home, confused and scared, she screamed for help. She banged on people’s doors and tried to claw her way into vehicles, setting off car alarms. > Neither offered to help, nor called 911 — they pulled the curtains shut and went back to bed. This is a insult to my intelligence. This sort of emotive bullshit is both a lie (This is not what happened) and totally unconstructive. There is a serious topic around this issue of care for people above food and shelter, it's just a shame this article is so piss poorly written.

RIMR 10y ago
That was my thought too. It seems that the author was trying to tell the story in such a way as to pull on the most heartstrings. I live in a city, and if I hear incoherent screaming outside of my apartment, I ignore it. I figure calling 911 every night would eventually get me in trouble, so I just accept that loud, mentally ill homeless frequent my neighborhood at night.
- PhasmaFelis 10y ago
  Then you've decided that you value your convenience over strangers' lives. As I said above, look into the Kitty Genovese murder, for example. That's your decision to make, but don't try to dress it up as something else.
sverige 10y ago
So you doubt that the reporting is accurate? I don't. It's very believable to me that people would ignore some disturbance outside in a suburban neighborhood. Granted, this is an anecdote that illustrates one of the stranger aspects of isolation, and probably wouldn't happen everywhere, but I think that's the point: in some places, absolutely no one will help you. So, to say it's a lie without any evidence to the contrary is unconstructive.
- aaron695 10y ago
  > So, to say it's a lie without any evidence to the contrary is unconstructive. Sorry, it is of course a lie. You shouldn't need evidence. If you think this sort of thing happens you are a very very broken human being. 'You' are the actual problem, because the people in these stories are not real. But people who believe these stories are. I shouldn't need to link evidence but I will in the hope that perhaps the truly awful humans who think people will knowingly leave a screaming a grandmother to die in the cold might change the awful way they think. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/toronto-womans-desperate-attempt-to-stay-alive-in-freezing-temperatures/article562552/ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/toronto-womans-d...
  - mirimir 10y ago
    What's your point? The story that you've linked to tells basically the same story as The Observer article does. It does close with: > Mr. Fisher believes his neighbours would have helped Ms. Chiu, had they known what was happening, and may simply have not heard her cries for help. "I don't like to believe that people heard her and did nothing." But that's not evidence.
  - kayoone 10y ago
    Not a native speaker so i must be missing something, but how does that link, that reiterates the same story, prove that it is all a lie ?
PhasmaFelis 10y ago
> a lie (This is not what happened) You're naive. Read up on the Kitty Genovese murder and similar incidents. It's not even that people consciously decide they don't give a shit. They just assume that surely one of the dozens of other people within earshot will take care of it and save them the awkwardness and bother. But everyone else is thinking the same thing. So no one takes care of it, and somebody dies.
dempseye 10y ago
> This is not what happened. Tell us what did happen.
ddebernardy 10y ago
It's ruffling your feathers because you're unfamiliar with psychology. What you feel is heartless beavior is, in fact, rather predictable behavior in an urban environment. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect
- pbhjpbhj 10y ago
  I'm not sure this is really bystander effect, that to me is a condition of "someone else will help" whilst these sorts of situations are "this isn't my problem". It's feeling that others are more capable vs. being cold-hearted.

RIMR 10y ago

That was my thought too. It seems that the author was trying to tell the story in such a way as to pull on the most heartstrings. I live in a city, and if I hear incoherent screaming outside of my apartment, I ignore it. I figure calling 911 every night would eventually get me in trouble, so I just accept that loud, mentally ill homeless frequent my neighborhood at night.

PhasmaFelis 10y ago
Then you've decided that you value your convenience over strangers' lives. As I said above, look into the Kitty Genovese murder, for example. That's your decision to make, but don't try to dress it up as something else.

sverige 10y ago

So you doubt that the reporting is accurate? I don't. It's very believable to me that people would ignore some disturbance outside in a suburban neighborhood. Granted, this is an anecdote that illustrates one of the stranger aspects of isolation, and probably wouldn't happen everywhere, but I think that's the point: in some places, absolutely no one will help you. So, to say it's a lie without any evidence to the contrary is unconstructive.

aaron695 10y ago
> So, to say it's a lie without any evidence to the contrary is unconstructive. Sorry, it is of course a lie. You shouldn't need evidence. If you think this sort of thing happens you are a very very broken human being. 'You' are the actual problem, because the people in these stories are not real. But people who believe these stories are. I shouldn't need to link evidence but I will in the hope that perhaps the truly awful humans who think people will knowingly leave a screaming a grandmother to die in the cold might change the awful way they think. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/toronto-womans-desperate-attempt-to-stay-alive-in-freezing-temperatures/article562552/ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/toronto-womans-d...
- mirimir 10y ago
  What's your point? The story that you've linked to tells basically the same story as The Observer article does. It does close with: > Mr. Fisher believes his neighbours would have helped Ms. Chiu, had they known what was happening, and may simply have not heard her cries for help. "I don't like to believe that people heard her and did nothing." But that's not evidence.
- kayoone 10y ago
  Not a native speaker so i must be missing something, but how does that link, that reiterates the same story, prove that it is all a lie ?

PhasmaFelis 10y ago

> a lie (This is not what happened) You're naive. Read up on the Kitty Genovese murder and similar incidents. It's not even that people consciously decide they don't give a shit. They just assume that surely one of the dozens of other people within earshot will take care of it and save them the awkwardness and bother. But everyone else is thinking the same thing. So no one takes care of it, and somebody dies.

dempseye 10y ago

> This is not what happened. Tell us what did happen.

ddebernardy 10y ago

It's ruffling your feathers because you're unfamiliar with psychology. What you feel is heartless beavior is, in fact, rather predictable behavior in an urban environment. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect

pbhjpbhj 10y ago
I'm not sure this is really bystander effect, that to me is a condition of "someone else will help" whilst these sorts of situations are "this isn't my problem". It's feeling that others are more capable vs. being cold-hearted.