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Are you a busy body?

Started by Slargos, October 15, 2009, 04:35:55 PM

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Slargos

October 15, 2009, 04:35:55 PM
As I was leaving the office today I ran into something of an ethical issue.

To make a long story a bit shorter, the district where we have our store is home to many of the city's degenerates such as substance abusers and various criminal elements. Today I heard a lot of top-of-the-voice shouting outside as I was packing up, and when I stepped outside I noticed the source. A large pudgy man had cornered a large pudgy woman on the other side of the street and was shouting incomprehensibly at her all the while the rain was pouring down in a fashion that SHOULD make people leery of staying in it.

My first instinct was to call the police and/or walk over to intervene. Last time I was in a similar situation I ended up getting slapped around by the woman, so I ignored my instincts and simply contented myself with pausing for a minute to see if the situation escalated to violence or not.

I pondered what the proper action, if any, would be in this situation as I got in my car and took another look at the situation as I drove away but there didn't seem to be any change from the one-sided shouting.

From watching Cops I've learned that in the US the police will respond to calls about this sort of thing but it would be largely pointless to call the police here since in all likelyhood they would either respond late or not at all so while I briefly entertained the idea I dismissed it quickly.

Another thought that ran through my head is that while I of course cannot condone physical violence in a situation like this, it is also quite possible that the bitch had actually done or said something to deserve a bit of a chewing out, and it would be unfair to get the police involved then.

I can't really make my mind up as to how to respond in a situation like this, and thus I foolishly turn to Languish.

What Would Languish Do?

Discuss.

Eddie Teach

#1
October 15, 2009, 04:41:03 PM
From the sounds of it, you made the right call.
To sleep, perchance to dream. But in that sleep of death, what dreams may come?

garbon

#2
October 15, 2009, 04:43:46 PM
My body is busy.
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

Pat

#3
October 15, 2009, 04:46:19 PM
Wouldn't have done anything either, unless it actually turned physical.

DGuller

#4
October 15, 2009, 04:46:49 PM
You made the right call.  Calling police could be distracting for you, the woman would want you to be a good witness in case this situation escalated to murder.

Capetan Mihali

#5
October 15, 2009, 04:48:56 PM
I intervened one morning last winter when a seemingly psychotic, seemingly homeless man started attacking the (female) Burger King employee who was quite gently trying to wake him up and make him leave.  But probably only because I was the only customer there and kind of felt forced to make a decision.

I avoid getting involved in other people's business when I can.  Intervening in every screaming dispute between people you encounter seems like it would get exhausting really quickly.
"The internet's completely over. [...] The internet's like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you."
-- Prince, 2010. (R.I.P.)

Slargos

#6
October 15, 2009, 04:54:40 PM
Quote from: Capetan Mihali on October 15, 2009, 04:48:56 PM
I intervened one morning last winter when a seemingly psychotic, seemingly homeless man started attacking the (female) Burger King employee who was quite gently trying to wake him up and make him leave.  But probably only because I was the only customer there and kind of felt forced to make a decision.

I avoid getting involved in other people's business when I can.  Intervening in every screaming dispute between people you encounter seems like it would get exhausting really quickly.

I think in your situation, acting or not acting is not a matter of moral dispute unless you are an egotistic bastard, but rather of whether you let your fear for your own safety stop you or not.

I certainly don't witness these kinds of altercations often enough that it would be exhausting to intervene each and every time, but it also means I really don't have a solid enough set of imperatives to help my decision making.

Josquius

#7
October 15, 2009, 05:01:02 PM
When this has happened to me I just shout at the bloke from afar to stop being a dick.
I don't stick around to see what happens.
██████
██████
██████

PDH

#8
October 15, 2009, 05:21:46 PM
In Wyoming, though I am not sure about this, I believe it is legal to gun down people acting in such ways.

Nobody sleeps in Burger King's here.
I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth.
-Umberto Eco

-------
"I'm pretty sure my level of depression has nothing to do with how much of a fucking asshole you are."

-CdM

Eddie Teach

#9
October 15, 2009, 05:31:15 PM
I've always wanted to sleep in a Wyoming BK, I hear they have padded benches.
To sleep, perchance to dream. But in that sleep of death, what dreams may come?

Barrister

#10
October 15, 2009, 05:32:59 PM
There is a high possibility that any such person is someone I've dealt with in court before (this is a small town) so I may well call the cops (I have reported one or two drunk drivers over the years), but other than that I don't get involved.
Posts here are my own private opinions.  I do not speak for my employer.

DGuller

#11
October 15, 2009, 05:36:07 PM
Quote from: Barrister on October 15, 2009, 05:32:59 PM
(I have reported one or two drunk drivers over the years)
Tattletale.  :rolleyes:

Viking

#12
October 15, 2009, 05:43:22 PM
There are a few retirement homes and treatment opportunities for the socially deprived near your office, it's not called "hospitalløkkan" (hospitalcorner for you non-scandaweenies) for nothing.

Trondheim isn't exactly a haven for dangerous druggies. The real dangerous criminals are out in the suburbs.
First Maxim - "There are only two amounts, too few and enough."
First Corollary - "You cannot have too many soldiers, only too few supplies."
Second Maxim - "Be willing to exchange a bad idea for a good one."
Second Corollary - "You can only be wrong or agree with me."

A terrorist which starts a slaughter quoting Locke, Burke and Mill has completely missed the point.
The fact remains that the only person or group to applaud the Norway massacre are random Islamists.

Slargos

#13
October 15, 2009, 05:56:05 PM
Quote from: Viking on October 15, 2009, 05:43:22 PM
There are a few retirement homes and treatment opportunities for the socially deprived near your office, it's not called "hospitalløkkan" (hospitalcorner for you non-scandaweenies) for nothing.

Trondheim isn't exactly a haven for dangerous druggies. The real dangerous criminals are out in the suburbs.

Oh I don't know about that. One of them regaled me with the delightful tale about the time he spent imprisoned in Sweden for manslaughter.

But mostly it's been the odd goofball stealing the display wine bottles or drunkenly harrassing the female staff.

DontSayBanana

#14
October 15, 2009, 07:10:28 PM
Quote from: Barrister on October 15, 2009, 05:32:59 PM
There is a high possibility that any such person is someone I've dealt with in court before (this is a small town) so I may well call the cops (I have reported one or two drunk drivers over the years), but other than that I don't get involved.

Snitches get stitches, bitches.
Experience bij!
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