Noise Disturbance

This is my first blog post on my new laptop/tablet.  Hooray.  So, whilst scrolling my News Feed (and wow, Facebook really is quite the inspiration of late), I happened to run across a video.  In it, this dude was playing his drums super obnoxiously to see how his neighbors would react.  They reacted as anyone would and filed noise complaints and left notes at this door telling him how irritating and disturbing it was.  They knocked on his door and spoke with him, informing him that he was ruining the peace of the area.  Later on, after a few nights of this, he, again caused a ruckus.  This time, however, instead of drumming, it was the very clear and loud recording of an incredibly verbal and violent fight between a couple.  The recording was heard by the surrounding houses, and you could hear shattering plates, fists hitting the wall, and the woman screaming desperately for help as her husband angrily beat her.

Lights went out.  The neighbors were silent.  Nothing was done.

And this goes to show that maybe we've lost a bit of compassion along the way.  I saw another clip of an experiment done on college campuses where a guy pretended to bully and beat up another guy.  Very few people stepped in, intervened, and stood up for the guy being picked on.  A lot of people looked offended and upset in a manner that said, "Why do you have to beat up this guy in front of me?  God, this is so annoying."  And then they'd run off, not wanting to get in the middle of it.

I figured, initially, I could use this to justify a lot of the Bush-era foreign policy (y'know, two wars, two countries, thousands of casualties, trillions of dollars spent, etc), but thought better of it.  This isn't about just intervening in foreign affairs to save lives, stop genocides, or hunt down terrorists...

This is about humanity.  At what point did we lose our care for our neighbors?  2-3 women every day are killed by their partners from abusive relationships or other reasons.  At what point will that become more of a disturbance than a dude playing his drums obnoxiously?

It's not even that, though.  This post isn't really about standing up for abused women or bullied individuals, but to just be more compassionate.  Give a shit, maybe.  Care about the person next to you.

I mean, when does the health or state of another individual become somewhat of a priority for us?  When it's convenient?  When it'll help us, too?

Last night, I was on my way home from Wal-Mart with my friend, Rusty.  There were like 3 cars pulled over, blinkers on, and some kids waving down traffic.  I turned around and checked out what was wrong.  I'm sitting here, today, still questioning how the hell your front left wheel falls off your car while you're driving.  I still don't have an answer.  Regardless, I helped them.  I bought a $15 four-bar.  I made sure everyone was okay.

I'm not bragging.  I'm really not.  Those kids were idiots.  In fact, I'd almost rather not have helped them because I don't get why they were driving that car while also missing a lug nut.  Regardless, I cared, man.  I worried about their well-being, I wanted to help in some way, because it's what I do.

I can't say no to someone who needs help.  And sometimes, yes, it is incredibly inconvenient to me.  I got written up at work because I was a half hour late after helping a lady move her van off the street and getting gas to her because she was completely empty.  Trust me, I wasn't thrilled.  How do you run that low on gas?  For real.

But it's what I do.  And I feel damn good about myself at the end of the day.  When my Impala broke down right off the Arsenal bridge in Davenport, no one stopped to help me push it up the hill.  No one offered a hand as I popped the hood and smoke was coming up.

Yes, we're all busy and we have our lives.  But are we going to let that numb us, make us indifferent to the people around us, and what's going on in the world today

A friend of mine posted a Facebook status:

"Really? The death of Phillip Seymour Hoffman is not sad. If you are dumb enough to start drugs, then I have ZERO sympathy for you. I don't care about your sad dumpster baby stories on how he or she can't get over addiction. Here is how you beat addiction, NEVER start!"

He later commented:

"You can't help them, prime example. You will wake up and realize these people are not worth your time and effort. Addiction is real, so is stupidity. You can't treat either. They don't deserve a strong support system, they have thrown their lives away. It is great to see people like this be eliminated out of society because of poor choices. This wasn't a car accident or a murder. This was INTENTIONAL drug use. No sorrow."

So, I sit here and ask, "Where is the compassion?"  Or as the Black Eyed Peas sang, "Where is the love?"

I think it's a very legitimate question.  I'm not perfect.  I'm no saint.  But I try every day to impact the people around me in the most positive way possible, and to help those in need when it's within my ability.

Sometimes I fall short.  But, please, guys, don't let me sit here and think that I'm the only one who tries.  (I know I'm not, I'm just terribly disappointed in people, at the moment.)