Dear Ebbtide,

I had such an upsetting experience on the evening of January 18th that I am still shaken from it:

It was dark and raining at 6:15pm, as I approached the east Metro bus stop, inside of the main entrance to SCC campus. Suddenly, I tripped violently on a raised crack in the sidewalk and with my heavy backpack on my back I fell hard facedown. My umbrella skittered on the concrete. My left foot and ankle hurt, along with my left arm. My left hand was numb. The breath was knocked out of me. I was unable to get up by myself.

There were 3 people at the bus stop. I cried out “Would someone help me, please!” No response. I cried out again and again, ”Would someone help me…please!!” I saw someone lean out from the bus shelter, twice, to look at me, but no one came to my aid or asked me if I was OK.
A Metro bus was also sitting at the stop, headed for the main base. The driver, a young woman, closed the bus doors and drove off.

Moments later, a young man started to walk by and I asked him to help me. No response. Did he really not notice a woman lying on her stomach sprawled full length on the sidewalk? I grabbed his hand and asked him to help me, and finally he did. Once I was back on my feet I felt sick, and not from being in pain.

All of the people who ignored me were young adults, SCC students. All of them were certainly old enough to display basic human decency, but none of them did.

Playing on a cellphone is not an acceptable excuse for ignoring a fellow human being who cries out for help. That should be obvious, I think most people would agree. Being indifferent is also not an acceptable excuse. I might have been lying on that sidewalk with a broken ankle, but none of them would have known it, because they could not be bothered with coming to me. This is a pretty damning example of indifference among young students on SCC campus. I think it is very important to raise awareness about this issue. A cry for help is a call to take action.

Thank you,
Linda Parker