Ok, So Get This...(Or, why this "Supergyrl" ain't so super...)

I had something else planned for today, but I had to write about this while the novelty, shock, and anger were fresh. In case you didn't know, supergyrl is part of the email address I have had since the 7th or 8th grade...some young girl's unhealthy infatuation with Superman, blah, blah, blah. On to today's topic.

I witnessed a robbery today. Well, it was more like a mugging, but I generally think of a gun being involved in a mugging. I was in the subway (or Metro, whatev) after my morning exam, listening to my iPod and waiting for my train home to show up when I heard a girl yelling. I couldn't make out what she was saying over the blast of my headphones plus the train terminal is kinda long. So, I just assumed that it was some raucous high school kids playing around like usual. A few seconds later, this guy brushes past me like lightning. Surprised, I removed one of the earbuds to hear the girl scream (again): "Somebody help me! Stop him! He stole my iPod!" I looked up in time to see the guy running up the escalator at which time this other guy hurried over.

"Is this for real?" I asked, and he shrugged. Immediately we both went after the guy. We followed him out of the station's only exit on that side, but he was already gone. The guy I spoke to just continued on walking away, which made me wonder (later) if he was a co-conspirator. By this time, the girl had caught up with me and was bawling her eyes out. We asked some workers at the exit if they saw where he went, but they only knew he disappeared into a cluster of apartment buildings. We flagged down a policeman in a cop car (which was at the corner, btw), who contacted Metro Transit Police, but he wouldn't go investigate at the apartments. I know it's the hood, but yeesh, call backup or something. Since I saw the thief's jacket, I kept looking around to see if he might appear down the street, but he was history. When the MTP got there, the girl made her report and I gave my witness statement. We offered to show the thief to the cops on the security cameras, but they refused to let us see them, which was ridic since we were the only ones still on the train platform that saw him.

On my way home, I felt kind of guilty for not taking her yelling seriously at first. If I had heard what she was saying I could have tripped him as he ran by. But, I did try to help by going after him. I got flak from my dad about it, but it seemed unlikely that a high school aged black boy who snatched an iPod from the only 5'2" Jewish girl (out of all of us with iPods, no offense) in the station would pose much of a threat to me, especially with police nearby. Anyway, because I could be wrong, I never intended to confront him alone, merely find his location and get a good look at him. But the thing that bothered me most was what she kept saying as she was crying: "I was screaming for help, and no one did anything."

Now, like any Psych major, I know about bystander apathy when I hear it. But, the facts do not change that I find it ridiculous. This girl lost $300 bucks she probably won't get back. In fact, never mind whether she looked rich, or poor, or whatever. The entire event is violating. Someone has entered your personal space and took from you, out of your hands. How would you feel? How could you possibly see it happening and not do anything about it? It made me feel sick. I (morbidly) began thinking of all the things that could happen to me, in a public place, and there is always the possibility that no one would help me. Not to be that person and make it a "race thing," but everyone in that station today was black except for her. I was really hoping that the actions of everyone involved (and not involved, just watching it happen) would not distort her views of my black people as a whole; that can happen, you know, especially with jarring experiences such as these. That poor girl; I know that it's better he took an object than something more valuable, like her life, but still, it's a traumatizing thing. I always said I would never fall victim to bystander apathy, but I almost did. I shrugged off her screams initially because I have been so conditioned by my experiences that I was accustomed to...ok, sorry, it was a Psych exam this morning. Something similar happened to my first roommate late at night a few years back, but there was a gun involved. It may be extreme, but I am seriously rethinking my position on driving to school.

Oh, and I think I got a C on that exam. Ick. I hope it was a B, but I don't know. I did a poor job of studying. And, I discovered that an all-night cram session leads to lapses in judgment. Case in point (excuse my piano-player fingers):



Btw, visit my Bestie's blog! She's a noob and a goofball like me, and she's one of my fave people in the world!