Day 350: What Would You Do?

Tonight while I was unpacking from the recent move I turned the TV on. It was more for background noise than to watch, but I happened to turn it on right in the middle of a show called “What Would You Do?” The premise of the show is one I remember from Dateline or one of those other evening news magazine type shows. If you are not familiar with the set up, an easy way to describe it is to say that it is basically the principle by which I live my life.


You likely know me if you are reading this and to know me is to know that I have a big mouth and a penchant for stirring things up. If I see someone that I perceive as needing help I will offer, likewise, if I see a person who needs someone to tell them to take a flying leap, I’ll do that too. The show hides cameras and hires actors to portray situations of varying controversial nature to uncover how average Americans will react. The most common reaction is none and the people confronted afterward all say the same thing, “It was none of our business.”


Well, I believe we are all interconnected so when something I feel unjust happens, it is my business and I have no hesitation taking care of it. Sometimes this backfires or is misguided as it was the sunny afternoon when I saw one man getting a little roughed up by another and decided to step in and ask if the guy needed help. Both men happened to be black and to me that does not make any difference, but on the show it often does. Well, in my instance, one of the men happened to be an undercover cop arresting an alleged criminal. Still, I wasn’t embarrassed and I’d do it again. It was not the first time I’d miscalculated.


I also told some guy off who I overhead berated his elderly mother while walking down the street. What I did not hear and was informed of by the husband, was the same guy telling his Mother that she had to stop getting drunk all the time, that it was killing her and he couldn’t take care of her by himself anymore. That was a bit embarrassing I suppose, but still, you only have one Mother (usually) and telling her to “straighten the fuck up” sounds harsh to me.


There are also times when I’ve gotten it right. I do not let parents rough up their children in front of me. If I see children ganging up on another child I will tell them to stop lest they want to deal with me. Once on the L train coming in from Brooklyn I witnessed a man verbally berate his wife or girlfriend while she cried. My biggest concern at that point was that if I said something he would take it out on her later and more harshly than usual, yet I could not in good conscience let it go. I told him to leave her alone and to try picking on someone who was willing to fight back. He then got in my face, this six foot plus man yelling at me and calling me names while his first victim stood in tears trying to shrink into the corner. No one else on that busy train said a word.


The world is full of people who are only too happy to point out their moral sense of right and wrong and yet it seems when offensive controversial behavior is the target it is suddenly no one’s business. Do not preach your religion or moral code to me if you feel it’s okay to stand idly by while an injustice unfolds directly in front of you. Sometimes doing the right thing means taking a risk or even physically putting yourself in harm’s way, but it does not mean it is no less the right thing. We need less people minding their own business and more people minding what is kind and ethical. How many times have you seen something you felt was unjust happen and wish later you’d have stepped in? Well, I don’t ever want to be that person, so I always step in and sometimes I step in it, but I never, ever regret it.