Some Days

Some days something I read or hear that disturbs so much it makes me face reality. I hate facing reality. Reality is one of those things that I try my hardest to ignore at all costs, because the harsh truth of it all is that the world (and the people who live on it) might not be worth saving.

My case in point: People Walk By Hero Bleeding to Death.

You can watch the video if you want, but I warn you it's as hard to stomach as grainy, black and white security camera footage can be. You can even read the article and there you'll learn about a poor 31-year-old, Guatemalan immigrant named Alfredo Tale-Yax who bravely stepped in while a woman was being assaulted and suffered stab wounds to the chest. He would die, slowly and probably in terrible pain, on the sidewalk as numerous people walked by - one even finding it in himself to snap a cell phone camera picture of the fallen hero - without intervening, without calling for help, without so much as a second look. Though, it does look, once it became far too late for anything to be done, that someone took it upon themselves to call for help. Still, a man who unselfishly stepped in to help a complete stranger - what I consider to be a heroic act - was killed.

Today, I consider the entirety of New York City and society at large to be accomplices in this man's death. Not even the woman whose life he may very well have saved decided to double back and call for help on the cell phone you know she had in her pocket, purse or jacket. I'm sure, somewhere deep down in her fearful mind she knew what to do (make the call, save the man's life who just saved hers) but the instinct to run away from harm is so powerful, I'm sure immediate gratitude for her savior was far from her thoughts. I'm sure she would do everything in her power to save the man now, looking back at it and seeing the outcome, but she can't, and his death - his blood - is on her hands as well. As harsh as it may seem to admit, she is no better than the person who attacked her and later killed the man who would protect her and possibly save her life.

I feel shame on a level I did not think possible. I feel disgusted and depressed and sad to see that the state of humanity has withered away to something I do not recognize any more. Hell, I'm not even a good guy. I'm just a nerd with a keyboard who likes to drink more than he should, loves his girlfriend and his dog and tries to keep himself out of trouble. I'm not a hero, and I'm not even a very good writer, but things like this, on a visceral level, make me angry. Very, very angry.

The world and it's people are too beautiful to be treated this way.