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View Full Version : Why be a good samaratian?


RustyHawk
30 Jun 2008, 02:41
This thread (rant) is promted by driving past my local McDonalds this late evening only to find for the first time in months it is closed.

This McDonalds was the scene of a late night stabbing Sunday morning with a 21 yo Dandenong North man taken to hospital in a "serious condition".

This store is a franchise store. No doubt corporate headquarters and local management would have made the decision to close the store down overnight after the incident. McDonalds have a history of doing this including when in the US many years ago a gunman shot 3 people at a McDonalds they ceased all advertising for 3 days and demolished the store where the slayings occured.

McDonalds have the systems in place to deal with such issues. My rant is not about McDonalds, they have done the right thing from a corporate point of view.. dont need people associating violence and McDonalds. You dont need people coming around looking at the crime scene. You dont need friends of the victims looking for revenge at the location of the incident. Better to close the store, take a hit on revenue from 1 store rather than risk a wider more damaging event or events occuring that affect overall bottom line.

My thread is about the good samartians out there who dont have the right systems in place and go out and get seriously injured in events that don't even concern them. Further, we could all be potenial good samaritians. Do you have the systems in place to deal with the sort of potential situation of going to the aid of a person or persons being attacked?

The most famous recent case was solicitor Brendan Keilar who was shot dead by Christopher Hudson in the city just over a year ago. Mr.Keilar and another man went to the aid of a woman being assaulted in a city street.

Sunday morning the 21 yo man who I dont believe I know and who, if we
believe media reports didnt know a) the attackers or b) the victims, went to the victims aid only to become the most seriously injured with a stab or stab wounds and is now in a serious condition in hospital.

And there are other cases all the same. People with good intentions coming to the aid of people being beaten or threatened and ending up the most seriously wounded out of all.

Take some time while driving or walking to work or sitting in the train. Take some time to think, what would I do if I saw a) a woman being bashed by a man? b) a group of thugs surrounding and beating someone?

What would you do?

Personally if I really felt I had to get involved I would move out of direct sight, if possible or further away and dial 000 and advise the professionals of the situation and let them handle it. You can do more good that way than getting potentially stabbed or killed.

The "smart" samaritian is always better than a "dead" samaritian.

Think about it.

jaaack
30 Jun 2008, 11:47
You have to admire people like that stab-victim and the guy that stepped up to Christopher Hudson, but it's true the stupidity of it. Why would you stand up to a guy who is beating a girl in the middle of the city first thing in the morning, and was pretty big too? Why would you jump in unarmed against a couple of guys with knives? I don't mean to detract from what these people did, that's just the way I look at it.

A far better approach as you said is to call police/security. I suppose if you had to jump in, you'd attack the attacker from behind rather than going up to his face...

noosa hawk mad
30 Jun 2008, 17:45
If a women was being assaulted any where i would intervene! helped a lady out one night on a train & knocked her bloke out who was bashing her to then have her turn on me hitting me with her handbag feral bloody women!
Their was a group of kids aged 17 to 20 about 8 in total who were swearing & breaking down fences next to my house all pissed as i went out with a bat & a hose & scared the crap out of them in my own unique way!:D
Every-one acts differently in situations of violence if some one was being bashed to death call me stupid but i would somehow get that person help if that meant copping a few hit's well so be it i would like to think that some morals still exist in todays society!

RustyHawk
30 Jun 2008, 19:18
If a women was being assaulted any where i would intervene! helped a lady out one night on a train & knocked her bloke out who was bashing her to then have her turn on me hitting me with her handbag feral bloody women!............

That is so often the case though, the woman will support her man even though the man is bashing her.

Worse, if say Police came along just after and saw he woman hitting you, her man down on the ground, you would be the one charged with assault. No way the woman would back your story.

Exact same thing happened to a bloke working for me as a man and dog team at a nightspot, saw a woman being bashed across the road from the club, went over with the dog and the man finally went the guard..luckily the dog intervened and nearly had hot dog for snack, luckily for us it missed by that much.

However the cops came across the incident and arrested the guard. The woman refused to provide any evidence against her man and there was no visible signs of bruising on her face or arms. He was only saved by an independant witness who was able to verify everything he said.

This guy faced losing his job, his licence, getting a record and a fine all for intervening in an incident to help someone who in the end didnt appreciate what he did.

....... Every-one acts differently in situations of violence if some one was being bashed to death call me stupid but i would somehow get that person help if that meant copping a few hit's well so be it i would like to think that some morals still exist in todays society!


A few whacks is one thing but with the prevelance of knives now days it is just not a good option to expect just a few whacks. What Im trying to get across is that it is ok to call the professionals and leave it to them rather than go in and try and help.

Moral is be smart, look after number 1.

flyby hawk
30 Jun 2008, 20:09
Fine words of wisdom, Rusty:thumbsu:

HAWKS HEROES
30 Jun 2008, 20:38
agree there i saw once a drunk harsassing two women as i was one with a friend [ i think or by myself i have forgotten] i was too scared to say anything [being female no mobiles then either or emergancy buttons] as he may turn his attentions onto me [it was just verbal at time] , there was another guy who did step up and say something and the guy staggered off at richmond station thank god , we all thanked the guy for doing that never had that happen since .

boozeDragon
30 Jun 2008, 20:50
I once heard that it's more effective to yell "FIRE" instead of "HELP" in the case we're you're being mugged. People just don't pay attention to "HELP". Scary isn't it. Says something.