to feel disgusted with these people?

[Disenchanted3]

Today we went for a walk and we were sad to see a homeless man had passed out outside a shop, he wet himself and everyone was just stood around staring at him,

Someone was on the phone to the ambulance but the rest were just staring down at him.

One woman was saying 'ewww don't touch him'

DH went over and with the help of another bloke woke him up, sat him up and he went and took a chair from outside a cafe and sat the bloke down on it whilst the ambulanced arrived and waited with him.

I was across the road and a group of people all about 40 years old and above, well dressed and the owners of a buisness across the road were all laughing and saying to one of the women of the group 'oooh he's a real catch for you love, go get his number'

I was really disgusted, what had this poor bloke done to them? He was as down as you can get, lost all dignity and these people were laughing!

Why don't people help people anymore or at least be respectful if they can't manage that?!

people are afraid to get involved tbh. although the nasty comments weren't really warranted IMHO.

I can remember helping an old drunk man when I was a student and I helped him up off the ground myself. everyone else just walked on past. sign of the times...

Your husband sounds like a lovely man. The rest sounds like arses.

If he wet himself while passed out, there's a good chance that what happened was an epileptic attack - incontinence is quite common for people having tonic clinic fits. I don't off the top of my head know any other reason why fainting would make him wet himself.

So yeah, disgusting. These people were mocking someone who was down on their luck, and possibly had a very serious condition to boot. People are utterly shameful at times.

the people who were mocking him will get their commupence one of these days..

Tott he was very, very, very drunk and had a bag of another 6 cans So it may have a drunken wetting himself,.

I know, it's horrible. A year or so ago when I was living in London I went to the station in Blackheath to meet a friend and there was a woman on the platform who was totally passed out on the bench and evidently unconscious. Just as I saw her, the train came in and a huge stream of people got off and totally ignored her, so I went and told the station guard (didn't want to approach myself in case she was dead!!! ) and he called an ambulance which came and took her away, but was really astonished that nobody else did anything. I had expected the guard to say, 'yeah yeah, I know, about 10 people have already told me that' but nobody had even taken the basic step of getting help. It was .

In reality I know not everyone is in the position to help, I couldn't have as I have 2 kids in buggys and a puppy on a lead with me.

But the thing that really shocked me was the piss taking, as soon as I saw him on the floor my heart sank and all IO had was concern, I don't understand how anyone could joke and laugh about someone passed out and vunerable.

When you do first year psychology at university they tell you about the 'Genovese effect'. (Named after some poor woman who was apparently murdered in New York and many, many people had heard her screaming but did nothing).

The theory holds that the more people are around the less likely one individual is to do anything because everyone thinks it is somebody elses responsibility.

This is why I always do something in situations like these.

Making comments and laughing is disgusting behaviour so yanbu.

Poor man

Not 'some poor woman' - should have said 'a poor woman' as it sounds more respectful, sorry.

Agree with Tott. I have taken countless people to hospital who have been 'found' lying in the street, all aparently drunk. In most cases yes they were BUT in several they were in very serious ill-health and needed emergency treatment for hypothermia, diabetes etc. A member of the public who we regularly transport is drunk on every occasion we are called to her but she is also a known epileptic patient needing hospital care.

YANBU

But he wasn't passed out because he was ill was he? He was passed out because he was drunk. And essentially that is self inflicted.

So I can sort of see why people wouldn't want to get involved there, having said that I'm not sure why people would feel the need to stand around making comments. If you don't want to get involved then walk on.

Wannabe there is no way of knowing if he was passed out solely because he was drunk. As Tott said he may very well have had an unwitnessed epileptic seizure.

wannabe that is a horrendous thing to say. Peole often get into that situation (drunk and on the streets) due to mental illness, redundancy and family breakdown. It could happen to any of us.

I do remember seeing some snippet on the news a few years ago, about Prince Charles. He was doing one of his charity vists to a soup kitchen - one of those places which gives out hot meals, clothes, advice etc to the homeless.

There was a group of clearly alcholic, elderly men in there.

It transpired that one of them had actually gone to school with PC. Amazing.

I think that attitudes can harden in places where this is a more common sight - some parts of London and so on. Not excusing the people who did nothing, but it's another factor.

The people laughing were horrible though.

but that is how a lot of people feel. I didn't say I wouldn't help btw but many people do feel that it is self inflicted. And as someone said, if it's a more common occurrence then people do become hardened to it.

Have had a couple of pretty unpleasant experiences with drunks tbh which has perhaps put me off somewhat.

One morning I was walking to work up a cycle path - it was a fairly quiet area, anyway this bloke came towards me, singing loudly, and I remember thinking how sad that anyone could be in that state at 8:00 in the morning. I walked past him and he carried on his way, or so I thought. Except that about 30 seconds later he turned around and started following me up the cycle path, calling loudly to me, "come here my lovely I want you," and trying to run to catch up with me. I can tell you that there was no way I was going to stick around for a chat and legged it as fast as I could up the track until I reached a more crowded area.

Perhaps he was down on his luck and was suffering mental illness, but tbh I didn't want to take that chance.

its a sorry state we live in really, similar thing happend to me when i was about 15, waiting at a bus stop with lots of other people around, a very elder lady came to sit opposite me onto the bench under the shelter, ( i wasn't the closest to her though ) and as she sat down she looked like she had a stroke, and missed her seat and landed on the floor, i was horrified and frozen to the spot, looked around thinking surely one of these responsable adults would jump in, nope! i jumped up and got to her, she was uncounsious, and not breathing, had to take her false teeth out of her mouth etc, and still had to shout at someone to go get a police officer ( literaly across the road ) and stayed with her until the ambulance came, she started breathing when the police officer came and did mouth to mouth, but it wasn't until i was on the bus round the corner i started blubbing away, a while after i felt quite angry that i was the only one to step up.

Bit of schadenfreude thrown in there too, I reckon. People laughing because its not happened to them.

Thank goodness for people like you and your lovely DH.

Some people are just vile

I once opened my door to a man, who appeared to be drunk, he asked me to call 999, he sat on my bottom step with my friend and he suddenly started to fit. She knew first aid and put him into the recovery position, he came round and then started to fit again. The ambalance (sp?) arrived very quickly, but if I hadn't let him into my house he could have fallen and fitted outside in the road. He wasn't drunk btw.

well done to your DH for helping , it was a good thing to do

I stopped and helped a woman about 12 months ago, on my way back from work , and she fitted adn fell on to the pavement, i pulled over right way , called 999 and ran across the road , another lady stopped too, i got my blanket out of the car and wrapped it round her and my coat too. she had also lost control of her bladder. poor woman, and she spoke no english, waited about 45 mnuts for the ambulance, in the freezing cold, with her in wet clothes and not able to communicate.

i would like to think if me or my DH or a friend collapsed in teh street, someone would be kind enough to help

people who point and laugh are pathetic and insecure

if you can't/won't help,just move along , no need to be an arse

This makes me sad too . When my mum was alive and very ill she fell at the top of our stairs onto the road. Several cars had to swerve around her, but noone stopped. She lay there for over an hour before someone helped her- when I heard it made my blood boil.

When I was younger I spotted a guy collapsed across the road while taking the dogs out last thing. Plenty of curtains twitching but noone helping. My first thought wasthat he could have been attacked/ ill/ diabetic/ epileptic, and went over to help. As it turned out, he was just dead drunk, but it was a freezing night in december, and he may well have got hypothermia if left to lie there. He also had a dislocated shoulder where he fell. I phoned the police, who weren't interested, unless I wanted him arrested, which I didn't. they said I had to dial 99 for an ambulance, which I was reluctant to do, but I did, then waited with him until the ambulance came. He was a bit abusive, but I was taking no nonsense! DH gave me a bollocking for it when he got home, but I can't see I was ever in any danger- he obviously wasn't in a fit state to attack anyone! I was more annoyed about all the curtain-twitchers doing nothing to help me as I lifted this 11 stone injured guy off the pavement.

So well done your DH- wish more people would have a bit more social responsibility

my dad passed out in town once, outside the poundshop, luckily a family friend walked past and recognised him. The staff from the poundshop were outside smoking at the time and said to the friend not to go near hes a drunk! he'd been there for 20-10 mins and no one helped him they assumed he was a drunk. Hes a diabetic and had gone low.

Another time we were on holiday in st ives, me and my brother (were about 12-13 at the time) were walking through the town with my dad, he was going low stumbling everywhere, eventully me and my brother had to hold him up and walk him to get to my mum. I can remember everyone staring, tutting drunk at him. it really upset me.

so when i see people passed out/asleep in the street i dont automatically assume they are drunk and always help out when i can.