Do we just not care enough??

Question

The other day I was on the bus when two young foreign girls about 14-15 got aboard. The one girl paid for her fare, the other asked the bus driver for change for a £10. note. He told her he didn't carry change. The girl was getting more and more upset, that she might either have to get off the bus and leave her friend or they would both have to get off and find somewhere to change her money. Now, the bus was FULL of people just watching this poor girl, if I hadn't paid her fare I am pretty certain the bus driver would of kicked her off, and the other passengers would of let him. I was absolutely disgusted by everyones attitude, and the way they just watched this girl getting more and more panicked, and it really has upset me.

Do people not really care about each other? Don't people feel naturally protective toward children whether they know them or not?

Answer 1

You only just worked that out now?

no one cares, I know it sounds pessimistic but it is a fact.

(apart from odd exceptions)

Answer 2

The problem is these days is that most people fear getting involved so there are fewer and fewer acts of kindness. Good for you and well done for doing the right thing.

Answer 3

I think people generally care, but in a situation such as you describe there becomes a sense of diminished responsibility.  All the other people on the bus probably figured that it wasn't their problem and also that somebody else would help out if it became necessary.  Which is, of course, what happened.  When there are large groups of people, there is that strange phenomenon where the sense of any personal responsibility is diluted.  The term "bystander effect" has been coined to describe this phenomenon.  The most famous example is probably that of Kitty Genovese - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitty_Genov...

Good for you for taking some action in this situation!

Answer 4

people, in all reality, don't care that much about others, just so long as they've made their way through. Some, who were blessed, have a heart to help and make life better for everyone. There are others, however, that would rather just stand and watch. Some people's minds are set to a different way of thinking. What's better for me? or whats better for everyone? i guess it all comes down to what a person values more and how we were made differently. Some don't care, some, like yourself, do.

Answer 5

I think more people care than we realize.  In those situations everyone waits to see what someone else will do, I think it's like the Bystander Effect.  Good for you though, for stepping up to the plate and helping those people out.  :)

Answer 6

Bigger question is, if the girl wasn't a foreigner, would the bus driver had more patience or come up with change?  Would more people have jumped up to help?

Answer 7

Yes, I think a Certain Some. I am not going to say "no" as others said above me, as you did a Generous thing which shows you care! People who say no, no one cares, is just saying you don't care. When in fact you do!

So yea, those special, polite and kind people do!

Answer 8

i think as much as human nature is to nurture, it is to be selfish and greedy

Answer 9

bus drivers are twats, of course he had change because everyone pays with change. i see them in the mornings refusing to let the pensioners on with their passes because they are a few minutes early, and when they see people running for the bus they never wait for them, petty small minded little men. well done you for helping out the girl, but you know yourself you are rare especially in the UK where people see others as an annoyance holding them up or getting in their way. i left the UK and have moved to Ireland where i am happy to say people here are naturally helpfull and those girls would have been helped much quicker. so in answer people do care, just not many.

Answer 10

Maybe this girl was truthful, but so many work up dramatics just to get out of paying things. I know bus tickets are a small thing but it happens. And how could the bus driver let her in when she had no ticket? even if she was foreign. He'd get blamed by his superiors.  It is known that bus drivers almost never have change.

Answer 11

d**n girl

that is fuc'd up

i wouldve done the same

no second thoughts about it

people really are self absorbed these days

in general people really just DONT care

wtf is up w society today

reminds me of this little kid that came into my job the other day

he was selling m&m's for a camp trip

now i work in a sports bar downtown that alot of rich folks frequent..people who can afford to spend well over 50 bucks a day in alcohol

did u know NOBODY would help support this little guy

i gave him a 10 spot and told him to keep the candy

good for u in doing something good

=)

karma is good to people who deserve her

Answer 12

Well done to you for paying.  I've given people change before for the bus.  We get lots of tourists where I live and they don't know the bus fares and don't always understand the money so if you can help them out, they're always grateful.

But as for people turning a blind eye - I got on a bus once in the city where I live and it was fairly full apart from 3 rows at the back (all empty) apart from a guy on his own at the back  asleep (or so I thought), so went to sit down near the back and noticed blood all over the floor.

To this day I'm not sure what had happened to him, but me and another guy who'd got on at the same time, told the driver who stopped the bus and called an ambulance (we couldn't wake the guy at the back up) and the driver told us all to get off and get the next bus so I never found out how he was injured.  

But the weird thing was, thinking about it later - those people who were all bunched up at the front must have been like that because they'd seen this blood on the floor and just sat down nearer the front and pretended they hadn't seen him!

Unbelievable!

So in answer to your original question - yes I do think that some people just don't care about others and that's a very sad thing.

Answer 13

Good for you for helping her, I would have done the same.  

I agree people just do not care or do not want to get involved.  All it takes is one person to help out.  Mankind needs to evolve (mindset way of thinking) otherwise what kind of future is there?