When Susan Chang witnessed a person in need, she learned the importance of being an active bystander.
I live on a tree lined street of single family homes in San Francisco. Not much happens on my block, other than cars backing up at rush hour, and becoming completely gridlocked at Halloween. One morning, I took a break from my never ending remote workload and looked out my window. I saw a very unusual sight; a person hunched up and writhing on the sidewalk opposite my house.
I stared at this shapeless person for several minutes paralyzed with indecision. What to do? Of course, no one came walking by to relieve me from my dilemma, or her. Should I pretend nothing is happening? “Nothing to see here.” After wrestling with my desire to not stick my neck out, I gave up and called my local police precinct’s non-emergency number. Surprisingly, the phone was answered almost immediately, and the dispatcher calmly took my report.
In less than 10 minutes, a black and white pulled up and an officer got out and spoke to the woman in distress. Shortly thereafter, an ambulance arrived and two attendants loaded the person inside and drove off. The officer returned to his car. Propelled by curiosity, I walked over and told the officer I called in the incident and asked what happened. The officer told me, “You did the right thing,” and explained the woman had just gotten off work and was experiencing severe stomach pain.
Many people I tell this story to praise my intervention. But I prefer to focus on how well San Francisco’s infrastructure worked in this case. Someone needed help and our city took care of her. My contribution to this happy outcome was minimal, but necessary. Because the whole system of care for those in need can’t work if we choose to look the other way. That easily could have been me. I’m glad it wasn’t.