To ask people not to just walk on by?

[aibutohavethisusername]

I had a fall earlier, tripped over a loose paving slab and hurt my ankle and wrist. My pride was the most damaged thing. I’m fine now.

People around me just carried on walking or stares at me. Nobody checked to see if I was OK.

It makes me sad to think that the world we live in is so uncaring nowadays.

Oh I’ve had a couple of occasions when I’ve travelled by train with a foot in a boot cast and crutches and random people have got my suitcase for me and helped off the train.

My grandmother fainted in the Manchester Arndale Centre in the 1980s and people walked around her.

I felt faint in a shop one day when pregnant and told the sales assistant, thinking perhaps she would find me a seat. Nope! She just stared at me and shrugged. In another shop (John Lewis) they were very kind, found a seat, water and paged a first aider.

It really shakes you up to fall to the ground. How awful no one helped you OP 😢

I tripped over a tree root years ago. Ripped all the muscles in my ribs. It hurt for weeks to breathe. Of course being terribly stiff upper lip I just got straight up and limped off asap . But the shock made me want to cry.

Yep it happened to me too @aibutohavethisusername.
Expect that I had very very badly twisted my ankle and couldn't out j’y foot on the floor anymore. No one come to help despite the fact I had spent quite a bit of time on the floor trying to catch my breath up.

I have either helped people or been helped in the following situations:

1. Child falling from the handlebars of his brother's bike and mangling his leg in the spokes of the wheel
2. Lady falling off her bike in front of me and wedging herself and her bike between a wall and a barrier
3. Child of 5 being left alone in the dark at a park
4. Feeling ill during a race and being helped by other runners

I have also known myself or other people not to help:

1. I got stuck in a cattle grid during a race and people just ran past me
2. I didn't stop the other day when I saw a teenage boy crying in a shopping centre because I suspected mental health issues and I was with my children.

I think it's just the luck of the draw.

My DS at Uni in Newcastle.

He was knocked off his bike by a car.
He was immediately surrounded by a crowd of helpful and supportive onlookers-said it was amazing.

He was ok-his bike was a bit folded in half but he was overwhelmed by the compassion and practical help from strangers.
Very heart warming. Thank you Newcastle

l once fell badly twisting my ankle in a restaurant, completely fell over sprawled on floor people just looked at me from their tables no one helped me including staff l was so embarrassed by the inaction.

@TheQueef Hilarious 🤣🤣🤣

I do wonder if there are regional variations with this.
I recently saw a woman looking very unwell in town, I asked if she was OK and got a mouthful of abuse for my troubles. It wouldn’t stop me asking in future but it was pretty shocking at the time.

I have definitely experienced much more helpful than unhelpful people.
My faith in humanity is high. 😜

I wonder how much of it is cultural? It’s kind of expected in our culture to stop to help but not all?

Or did our ancestors stop to help or was weakness seen as bad and somebody injured would have been killed?

I’m in the South of England.

The Queef I’m sorry but your story has made me smile.

I hit an uneven paving slab with my wheelchair a few years back, the solid tyre came off the front castor and I was deposited face first into the street...

I dragged my ass and my chair out of the way of passers by, and I sat on the fucking pissy cold pavement, trying to get the tyre back on (tip, you can't, you need a lever of some sort)... crying and with a bump on my head and bruised grazed hands and knees..

Not one single person even asked if I was ok, if I tried to make eye contact with anyone, they looked away.

Eventually my OH who was waiting for me almost half a mile away with the car, came looking, found me and had to go round all the shops to see if anyone had a plain screw driver to use to get the tyre back on, but I sat out there for over a fucking hour.

Lesson learned, I will never go out with out my phone again!

My DH was the only one to stop two women having a proper cat fight, lying down on the Tube escalator, other people were apparently stepping over them! He just hauled them apart.

I was in the loos in Asda a couple of weeks ago. There was woman in the loo next to me and it was clear she was very ill. I asked her if she was OK and could I get her anything and she told me to fuck off.

I would stop and help you OP but people can be proper dickheads nowadays. I'm glad I asked her though, even though she was rude.

People generally don't care. I agree with whoever said if it's mental illness/drugs, I wouldn't approach the person directly tbh, I'd call for help though (ambulance or police) and try and keep them in sight, I'd be concerned that were they to lash out at me that'd be ignored too by others.
I cut my hand once picking up a glass a customer had broken on the bar, quite badly, bleeding a lot. Obviously I couldn't serve anyone whilst dripping blood and needed to sort the wound out. It took approximately 2 minutes to alert another member of staff to cover me while I dealt with the cut, and the entire time I got moaned at and even while walking away to go and see the first aider and get a dressing applied people were asking me if I was 'fucking serving or what' with blood dripping down my arm. I needed stitches, but hey the customer wants their beer so I guess I should have spontaneously stopped bleeding and did as I was told!
I stop and ask if someone wants help if I see someone fall or hurt themselves in some way, my nan fell outside a good few years ago and a lot of people did stop. I think some people are just so self absorbed that they can't compute helping someone else.

Oh @TheQueef I laughed out loud more so because I have a similar-sounding coat 🤣

I fell over in the middle of the road at one of those little 'islands'. I ended up lay across it, I remember bringing my knees up and arms into me so no cars ran over them. No one came to help. I ended up taking myself to a&e as my cheek bone went black and I thought it was broken.

I would help anyone in a heartbeat. I was in the city centre, turned round and there was an elderly lady on her back the floor with a man kneeling at her side. I'd not seen what happened but went over. She was with her husband and he was panicking so I phoned an ambulance and stayed with them till the paramedics arrived. It was wet and she had slipped and couldn't move. Had my kids with me and they were as good as gold while we waited.
Reading these stories of people stepping over others in obvious need just beggars belief!

A friend fell over last week. Lots of people rushed to help her up. She was very polite and grateful but once they’d all gone she was very shaken and confessed to me she would much rather have been left on the floor for a few minutes to get her breath back.

Oh gosh, if I fall over then I feel so embarrassed if folk ask to help.
I hate being the centre of attention.
And then I feel annoyed with myself and might snap at them coz my temper is in a fray.

I'd really rather be ignored unless I'm bleeding badly.

Wow, some of these stories are so disheartening.

But a few good ones in there.

I once stopped my car, to get out and help an ailing older man who was on the ground at the corner, as his wife was fretting over him. Turns out he was drunk. Middle of the afternoon.

@Joerev -- Scary. Bad situation,
glad you and DD came out of it OK!

@TheQueef 😂😂😂
Effing Brilliant.

I do always ask and people have stopped to help me

last guy I saw fall over, his bag and papers went flying everywhere, I asked if he was okay and he yelled at me, then yelled at people trying to gather the papers. Presumably embarrassment.

WiddlinDiddlin So sorry people just walked past after you fell out of your wheelchair. That’s awful.

Some people are indifferent , some are lovely, some are just scum.

One day some years ago I was in town with my youngest son then aged about 10 I saw an older lady fall, by the time I crossed the road and got to her, many people had walked past, she was conscious and I called an ambulance while my son chatted to her and picked up her shopping. After I went to help a few others stopped as well, I think it takes the first person to stop for other people to do so. Since then I have stopped to help a few people over the years.
I like to think it was karma when years later my son now aged 21 had an accident while on his bike he slipped on a frozen solid bike path next to a main road. A wonderful woman car driver stopped and waited with him, called a ambulance covered him with her coat, other people stopped and checked on him as well. He didn’t get her name but I was so grateful and thanked whoever it was on our local news Facebook page.
On the other hand I read about a local to us story about an older gentleman who fell down stairs and briefly knocked himself out and some bastard under the pretext of helping him stole his wallet.

Around 1940, my dad (then aged around 10) slipped on an icy pavement. No-one helped him. He lay there for over three hours, on the ice. Eventually a boy not much older than him came to see what was wrong. My dad had a broken leg and spent a year in traction.

It's not just nowadays.