5 ms·

To be fair I try to ignore everyone, not just the homeless and blind.

by Arzh 10y ago

pavel_lishin 10y ago
Even when they clearly need help and are calling out for someone? Even when you see someone who clearly needs to sit walking towards a seat that you also want to sit in and are closer to? I get your joke, but it's not really "being fair".
- halomru 10y ago
  An inconsiderate asshole is completely fair if he treats everyone equally. That's a real problem that many attempts to quantify discrimination overlook.
- 1_2__3 10y ago
  It's not a joke, and yes, it's fair. Walk down a street in San Francisco, you'll walk past literally dozens of people literally screaming for help. Feel free to try, report back after the inevitable complete and utter disaster. Nobody is under any obligation to interact with people around them, and nobody deserves to be shamed for wanting to live their own lives and let other people live theirs.
  - marcosdumay 10y ago
    In fact, people ostensibly asking for help in public are almost always fraudsters. That's not great for the people that do need help, but it's how it is.
  - Veratyr 10y ago
    > Nobody is under any obligation to interact with people around them, and nobody deserves to be shamed for wanting to live their own lives and let other people live theirs. This illustrates a pretty big cultural difference to me, as an Australian. The US is very big on individualism in what mostly seems to be an "every man for himself" kind of way. It's strong enough that I've seen people reject things that would be in their own interest solely because it removes a little of their autonomy (I talked to someone who rejected universal healthcare solely because they would no longer have the choice to have no healthcare at all). At home in Australia, we're not all perfect, we don't all love each other but we seem to be more happy to accept things that benefit us as a country (like healthcare, support for the disabled, unemployment support, consumer rights, employment regulation). We live our lives and we let others live theirs but I think we tend to help each other out a little more, knowing that we'll need help ourselves sometime.
  - pavel_lishin 10y ago
    I agree that with you and others in this thread that there are a lot of fraudsters who ask for help - but an obviously homeless person shaking a cup of change is clearly different from a person with a guide dog spinning around. Clearly, a heuristic is needed. I've been asked for help (and offered help to) people who are obviously out to scam me, or get something for nothing, and for people who genuinely need help or are lost. You're right, under most circumstances nobody is under any obligation to do anything, but it's still a nice and decent thing to do.
draw_down 10y ago
Me too, I sometimes come off rude when I happen by a coworker or somebody I know in the street, because I just don't look at people, instead looking straight ahead.
ohstopitu 10y ago
At a young kid (in India), I was taught to never interact to strangers (does not matter who they are - disabled or not, what they say - ask for direction, help or literally anything or how they look like - homeless or rich). At times I still follow that advice but generally judge the situation and act accordingly. As an anecdote, one day (when I was 5/6 YO) a extended family member tried to give me a ride home from my playground and I ignored him. Finally when he tried to walk towards me (he thought I didn't hear him), I ran away to a friend that I knew lived nearby.

To be fair I try to ignore everyone, not just the homeless and blind.

by Arzh 10y ago

To be fair I try to ignore everyone, not just the homeless and blind.

Even when they clearly need help and are calling out for someone? Even when you see someone who clearly needs to sit walking towards a seat that you also want to sit in and are closer to? I get your joke, but it's not really "being fair".

halomru 10y ago
An inconsiderate asshole is completely fair if he treats everyone equally. That's a real problem that many attempts to quantify discrimination overlook.
1_2__3 10y ago
It's not a joke, and yes, it's fair. Walk down a street in San Francisco, you'll walk past literally dozens of people literally screaming for help. Feel free to try, report back after the inevitable complete and utter disaster. Nobody is under any obligation to interact with people around them, and nobody deserves to be shamed for wanting to live their own lives and let other people live theirs.
- marcosdumay 10y ago
  In fact, people ostensibly asking for help in public are almost always fraudsters. That's not great for the people that do need help, but it's how it is.
- Veratyr 10y ago
  > Nobody is under any obligation to interact with people around them, and nobody deserves to be shamed for wanting to live their own lives and let other people live theirs. This illustrates a pretty big cultural difference to me, as an Australian. The US is very big on individualism in what mostly seems to be an "every man for himself" kind of way. It's strong enough that I've seen people reject things that would be in their own interest solely because it removes a little of their autonomy (I talked to someone who rejected universal healthcare solely because they would no longer have the choice to have no healthcare at all). At home in Australia, we're not all perfect, we don't all love each other but we seem to be more happy to accept things that benefit us as a country (like healthcare, support for the disabled, unemployment support, consumer rights, employment regulation). We live our lives and we let others live theirs but I think we tend to help each other out a little more, knowing that we'll need help ourselves sometime.
- pavel_lishin 10y ago
  I agree that with you and others in this thread that there are a lot of fraudsters who ask for help - but an obviously homeless person shaking a cup of change is clearly different from a person with a guide dog spinning around. Clearly, a heuristic is needed. I've been asked for help (and offered help to) people who are obviously out to scam me, or get something for nothing, and for people who genuinely need help or are lost. You're right, under most circumstances nobody is under any obligation to do anything, but it's still a nice and decent thing to do.

draw_down 10y ago

Me too, I sometimes come off rude when I happen by a coworker or somebody I know in the street, because I just don't look at people, instead looking straight ahead.

ohstopitu 10y ago

At a young kid (in India), I was taught to never interact to strangers (does not matter who they are - disabled or not, what they say - ask for direction, help or literally anything or how they look like - homeless or rich). At times I still follow that advice but generally judge the situation and act accordingly. As an anecdote, one day (when I was 5/6 YO) a extended family member tried to give me a ride home from my playground and I ignored him. Finally when he tried to walk towards me (he thought I didn't hear him), I ran away to a friend that I knew lived nearby.