When One Among Us Falls, We Are All Compelled to Act

[MountainLaurel]

I've been over the 19 minutes of security cam video seven times now, and by my count, 166 people walked past a man who lay motionless on the sidewalk outside a busy District supermarket one afternoon last week.

Eleven of those passersby took at least one step out of their path for a closer look at the man, who was flat on his back, his head at the curb on a busy stretch of 14th Street NW in the Columbia Heights neighborhood. One pedestrian lingered for a few seconds. Another chatted briefly with two others as they stood over the man. One passerby even leaned down and appeared to check the man before walking back where he'd come from.

But not one of those 166 people bothered to call 911 or seek help in any other way. No one pulled out a cellphone. No one hurried inside to ask for assistance.

Eventually, a worker in the Pan Am International market called for an ambulance, which came promptly. As soon as the medical team arrived, 22 people gathered to watch as the man was placed on a stretcher. Jose Sanchez, 31, died three days later from brain injuries suffered when he fell to the pavement.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/04/AR2009020403383.html

[rateyes]

1. Animals care more about each other than do humans.

What a sorry bunch of people. Wonder how many of them were "churchgoers" and know the story of the "Good Samaritan?"