Would you help?

Hi,

I guess I want to raise the topic of safety on the street. Over the past 2 years I've allowed myself to get in to trouble while walking around the street. May be i'm an easy target, may be I was just being stupid.. either way it's resulted in me being mugged and chased around the city numerous times. After all these things, I still never ever thought Melbourne was not safe. I would stilll walk the streets at all odd hours and not really feel that worried. I ALWAYS thought if I was in trouble someone would come running.. That's until last night..

I got home and found my house mate sitting on the chair all fucked up. Someone had beaten him up pretty bad. His face was swollen and his lips were bleeding. Concerned I ran over and asked him what happened. He proceeds to tell me that 3 guys walked up to him and asked him for all his money. When he refused, they began to lay in to him.
WTF! I thought.. where the hell did this happen? He said outside. Outside where? Outside the front of the apartment block. I was shocked. I live in the city, opposite a police station and a night club. The street is packed! I mean on a Friday night there are people everywhere on this street.
He said there were about 30 people at least who just watched. The bouncers across the road watched the whole thing and did nothing to help.

I was wondering.. as citizens.. what would you do if you saw 3 guys beating the fuck out of some innocent guy. Would you stand there and watch? Would you come run and help? Would you do anything? I couldn't believe. I don't know.. It just makes me feel really weird.

I personally would like to think I would come and try and help. Even if it meant me just standing across the road screaming like a little girl calling for help. I would do something.. How could these people just wait. They could have easily overpowered these guys.

Sigh.. your comments please.

F

I've had it happen to me before on two occations (once i was mugged at my local train station and the fuckers took most of my weeks pay and broke my nose and 2 ribs, and the other time I got attacked outside townhall police station and the cops did nothing) and its fucking horrible, so I would definately do something. I cant stand the people who do this sort of thing, they allways prey on those who are unable or unwilling to fight back and then they congratulate themselves like they have just beaten Mohammed Ali in a one one fist fight.

grrrrr........ *raw nerve*

shit that story is shocking- I hope your friend is doing better.

I remember on deviantart a person had created a piece of art to make people aware of situations like.The true story attached to the artwork was absolutely shocking. It was about a girl who was raped in the middle of a busy city during the day. Heaps of people saw and no one did anything to help as the girl screamed out. I think one person even made a small comment to her but didn't help. This story just made me sick. I wish I could find the story again.

If anyone knows about this terrible story I am talking about please post it because it was really interesting and i might have forgotten some of the details.

If I was in the situation where someone needed help I don't think i could physically do anything to help but i would run to find someone who could help- like you said screaming like a little girl for help.

If I saw that, I think I would yell at the top of my voice "Hey, what do you think you are you doing?!"... but I'd probably make sure I had an escape route first if the attention turned to me. I'm just a small girl and I would be scared.

I've just done a St. John's First Aid course and the first rule is "don't make yourself a casualty". You can't help someone if you're incapacitated too, so there's no good rushing in being a hero if you're just going to get bashed or chased after as well. You've not helped them, and you've added to the predicament.

If my shouting at them didn't scare them off, or if they directed their attention to me, I'd run like blazers to the nearest shop or club and call the police.

I most definitely wouldn't do *nothing*. I feel too much for my fellow human beings to stand by and see that sort of thing without helping.

Considering im a top runner, i am pretty certain i can outrun most people... especially if they are drunk and picking for a fight. So i would probably walk up behind them and go 'hey' *big punch on face* and then run like a fucker...

Man oh Man do i fly when i run

friskk

this is not good dude!!!

my first bit of advice is always make sure u know your surroundings...

i'm not the biggest person in the world, but i am well built for my size... its just a simple matter of walking with determination, head up and dont make eye contact.

i had an incident in sydney city where i was followed for a while, and the best thing to do is head somewhere really public - in my situation it was mcdonalds on the corner of pitt st. speak to the manager and call the police or see if they can get you out another way... luckily for me there was a second door which i got out and fucked off through asap..


but in relation to helping others, its a sad state of affairs these days that no-one will help out another person... half this reason is that 9 times out of 10, u'll get beat up just as bad..

if i am with friends and there is a greater number of us than them, then of course we will help... did it a few years ago in canberra, even though there were about twice as many of them, they were only about 17-18 and we were 22-23, and about twice their size. they were trying to beat up a girl (NOT ON AT ALL IN MY BOOKS - i dont care what she did - YOU DONT HIT GIRLS!) so we stepped in, and when they threatened to beat us up as well, we just took a step forward and they ran..

but basically, its all about the confidence, even if u r scared shitless, act like u have no fear...

but hope your friend is ok...

Thats sucks, hope he's doing ok.
I'de go in for sure, imaging if it was you.
My mates got in a fight in the city a few months back, there were a bunch of (sorry) lebs kicking the shit out of a guy who was unconscious in a bus-stop. My mates asked other people to help but they said no, so they went in outnumbered, and outsized. Two of them ended up in hospital (my mates) and the lebs were charged. The police also said they probably saved the bloke on the grounds life.
Wow I get animated on this subject!!

I'd like to say I would help... but I was in this position at Transmission last year when a group of large, very muscley guys suddenly turned on a fellow party goer and tried to throw him off a balconey. It was so fucking scary and there were lots of people around - but the sheer size and agressiveness of these guys stopped anyone from getting involved. We all watched helplessly [I think some people tried to find security... but there wasn't really any security around] until finally something made the guys just drop the man and then they ran off.

So yeah...

I was wondering.. as citizens.. what would you do if you saw 3 guys beating the fuck out of some innocent guy. Would you stand there and watch? Would you come run and help? Would you do anything? I couldn't believe. I don't know.. It just makes me feel really weird.

Click to expand...

If i saw the whole situation from start I would, but there has been a few times I have seen a guy being beaten and u just don't know if he started it, was causing trouble, or it was just random.

So yes I would 100% help if I saw it from the start and he/she was innocent and did nothing wrong..... but only if I saw it ffrom the beginning.

I would call the police at least. I don't think i could take on 3 guys even though i am such a tough bitch and everything hehe

but seriously there is no way i could NOT do anything. I would just feel guilty forever and know bad karma would catch up with me

Ive been in the same situation before, except i was with friends when a group of four or five people surrounded ME and no one else, threw me up against a wall and threatened to kill me if i didnt give them my wallet and bag... the funny thing is the people that were with me are my friends and still are and they all just sat there watching going *goo goo gah gah* i dont blame them though we were *all* powerless, we are rather targety though, being gay and all dosent usually warrant peace in country holes...

No one took their mobile phone out and dialed 000 yelling "I'm calling the police" at the same time? That's the least someone could have done, from afar as well.

I hope your friend is doing better, it's a shame people aren't different in this world.

I was in the city about 2 months ago with this guy. It was about 2am and on this particular street it was unusualy quiet. We saw these huge islander guys mugging a very very drunk and passed out ethnic guy and at first i thought they were his mates helping him up on his feet. They were so sneaky about it. One of the guys was trying to distract our attention whilst the other two were going through his pockets. I wanted to help the guy out but the guy i was with strongly advised me not to and we proceeded walking up the street.

I'm glad in a way that i didn't do anything. They were very big guys and they could have tried to mug us. I remember feeling sorry and angry at the guy who was getting mugged cos he was so out of it that if you wanna get that pissed then it's your own damn fault.

So, thats what i would have done and thats what i did.

Your situation isn't nearly as bad as the one from the first post. You didn't help because you didn't want to get into danger yourself, which is fair enough. But if there is a huge crowd in the street and everyone just lets it go it is ridiculous.

In all honesty, I wouldnt know how I would act till the situation presented itself.

Sadly, unless I knew I could sway the outcome, I'd probably go in the way of cowardice and get a good description of the thieves/muggers (cunts, as I like to call them [forgive my language, I've been mugged twice by groups and have a strong opinion towards them {ie. They should be castrated and then viciously raped by wolves}]) and dial for cops after I'm out of earshot.

I'm not really into getting beaten up, as much as it appeals

- moe

one time i was walking home from a party with a couple of mates when we saw some guys trying to steal a car.... i yelled out, and for my trouble got bashed with a crowbar, then i fell on my stubby i was carrying and sliced my arm to bits when it smashed..... i would still do the same if someone was being raped / bashed, but never again for a piece of property that can be replaced / insured

Those are the sort of acts that result in people feeling like they have to carry guns or knives.

I had someone try and mug me once but the ridiculousness of the whole situation meant he thought better of it - he was skinny, 5' 6" maybe and I'm relatively well-built and 6' 3". He screamed, 'Give me your fucking money or I'll hit you in the face'. I was a little taken aback but I looked him up and down (inside I was scared but the adrenalin saved me from showing it) and told him it wasn't worth his while. His face indicated as if this was the last reaction he would ever expect to hear and after a few more demands and a little staring he backed off and watched me walk away. Of course, I sprinted like fuck once I was out of his sight and sat in the dark scared out of my mind.

Despite not trying to fight my way out of the situation, I definitely would help out someone in need if I saw them being attacked. A lot of the anger comes from the feelings I had after seeing my mother's car broken into. She was visiting my grandmother in hospital and had left her car in the car park. We had to travel back home after saying goodbye and had left all our luggage in the car - on display. When we got back to find they'd smashed the window, my mother was totally overcome with grief. As if it wasn't enough that her own mother was in hospital, now this? I consoled her but on that day an anger rose in me that will one day be directed, hopefully productively, against some similar assholes.

So, if I saw someone taking a beating - what would I do? If it was one guy, I'd go for the headlock (sorry - I know this thead isn't 'What wrestling moves would you pull on a...'). The way I see it, practically nobody is going to work their way outta it and whilst I'm restraining the assailant the victim can call the police.

My fear is that my rage will manifest itself and I'll end up putting this guy in intensive care whilst I'm throttling him in a blind rage!

<breathes in, out, in...>

I've thought through the whole multiple assailant encounter many times but like another poster said, it's almost certainly a matter of actual circumstances. However, if it's coke night and some punks are outside my house laying into an innocent, then its time to quote Legion of Doom:

'Oh you didn't know? Your ass better CALLLLLL SOMEBODY'

I don't watch wrestling anymore, promise.

I'd love to think I can look tough and scary, but watchin a couple of guys lay in to another scared the crap out of me.
I was once at a train station in melbourne and watch 2 guys beat the crap out of another guy, I couldn't do anything immediately, I was scared stiff. When I finally got the guts to stand up the guys stopped and the guy getting beat up sat next to me.
The worst part was after a few moments the beat up guy got back up and started the fight again, at which point I just sat and watched.

I guess you never know what you'll do until your in the situation.

I have witnessed something similar to these stories myself...
I watched an innocent middle-aged man on a suburban train one night, singled out for no reason, and pummelled like a punching bag by a kid who had been chroming petrol - - breaking a few ribs and causing a lot of cuts and severe bruises.

The carriage was empty besides myself and another stranger sitting opposite the man.

I'm not a big girl, so my main priority was to avoid the same fate, and basically shrink into the seat I was in...
I was so frightened, literally frozen with fear.

The stranger was a big-ish mid to late 20's guy, who shouted at the random thug when he got no response from that, pretty much jumped on his back until we reached the next station and the guy got off.

I sat there shaking until a conductor could be found.

I wished then and now there was something I could think of that would have helped the situation, while ensuring my own safety [my fate could have been a lot worse, considering I was a {at the time} 19 year old girl].

Any suggestions here?

in such situations i'd probly just call 000 on my mobile. you dont have to be conspicuous about it or anything.

i've been bashed myself in the middle of frikkin Hobart while walking back to uni with a male friend. a group of ppl were following me cos the lead chicks friend (who used to be my friend) hated me for stupid reasons i wont go into here. i stopped to tell her to shut the fuck up cos she'd been saying nasty stuff and she started laying into me.
i didnt hit back cos i didnt want any blame on me from a cops point of view. there was heaps of ppl around me waiting for buses and stuff, and my friend just stared blankly at me and backed off and walked back to school.
i was absolutely disgusted that he didnt help me, considering i'm a girl and he's a boy and we were friends. and that no one said anything on the street.
lucky i wasnt hurt bad but i went to the cops and all.