Sunday, June 28, 2015

A Fight in Public - What would You Do?

I slipped my change into my wallet and pulled my car up to the stop sign up ahead when I heard the yelling. A young couple were walking along the side of the road about 100 yards from where I was and they were screaming at each other.

I had seen the couple on my way to the drive-thru sandwich place.  At that time they were on a hill and I could tell they were angry.  The young man was walking away from the young lady who was yelling at him.  I figured they had been at the nearby pool and were now having an argument.

But here I was a mile or so further and they were still screaming.  Making my way towards the access road, I wondered if the girl needed help or was trying to get away.  Over and over the man was screaming,  "You f--ing B*tch!"  A car on the main road pulled over and began to talk our their window to the couple.  I wondered if I should call the community police to come check out the manner and help to de escalate the situation.

When I saw the young man try to get in the back seat of the car, I thought perhaps these were friends of theirs.  Now everything would be okay, so I went on my way to complete a few errands before heading home.

I was taken by surprise when about 15 minutes later and a mile down the road I see the young couple still walking on the road, still having words.  The car that had stopped to help was nowhere in sight.

What should I do, if anything?   They seemed to be less intense--or maybe they were just tired from walking and screaming.   I saw the young lady sit down with her back towards the man.
A tiny flicker of wondering if they weren't doing this for attention flitted through my mind.

I went on home with these questions:

Do we have a moral obligation to help people who appear to be in distress?

Will a middle-age woman alone be acting wise if she stops to intervene on two raving 20 somethings?

Should police be called for a domestic verbal fight takes place on the public roadway when shootings, burglary, and assaults may be occurring?

Why do people display their inappropriate behavior?


What would you have done ?

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