Monday, June 21, 2010

Step Right Up, Folks

I remember an incident that happened when I first started working at the store...

It was morning, and I was just waking up and stumbling into work.

As I opened the door, I see a man laying on the floor inside our store. He's kinda just laying there and moving around a little like he's in pain.

I stare for a second and go up to the night shift girl and ask her what happened.

She tells me the guy just fell down and thinks he might be having a heart attack or something, so she called the police and they are on their way.

So we're standing there watching and making sure this guy is okay, even though there's not much we can do but wait until the ambulance shows up.

The one thing I remember about this and will never forget is that here this guy is, spread out on the ground right in front of the front doors, writhing in pain, and customers are actually walking in and stepping over him to come up to the register.

...really?

I couldn't believe that people were doing this. One guy didn't see him until the last minute and kind of jumped over his body to avoid tripping over him. But that didn't phase him; he just came right up to the register to get his cigarettes, and then hopped over him again on his way out.

I don't know about you, but if I saw a man laying there on the ground at 6 in the morning, I'd get the fuck out of there. There isn't a thing in that store that could tempt me to step over this man's body while he's having a heart attack. Not even a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.

We never knew what happened to that man once the ambulance took him away. Hopefully he didn't have shoe marks on his chest from customers that probably stepped ON him to come in and buy their coffee and cigarettes.

Sadly not one customer that morning asked what was wrong with the guy. I guess it's normal to have people laying on the floor in the middle of a store.

12 comments:

  1. People are just unbelievable. I realize there was nothing they could do, but at least have enough respect to wait for the ambulance to take that person away before entering the store. Jeez!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That is nutsoide. People just don't care about others anymore

    ReplyDelete
  3. That is a pretty sad commentary on society isn't it? Too caught up in their own world to give a flying fig about others. Karma will bite them for it. One day they will be the ones laid out on the floor and people will step over them.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I really hope I never do anything like that.

    I've seen video on the news of people getting hit by cars or otherwise injured on the street and no one does anything about it. What is happening in this country??

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'd of jumped over him too. I'd like to meet you that's why. Bwhahahahahaha. This is really so very normal. Sad, but normal. You work in a really weird place.

    Have a terrific day. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. That reminds me of a story I read a while back about a guy who was laying on the ground beaten and bleeding and not one person stopped to help him. Most wouldn't even look in his direction as they were walking by.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Good God. People are messed up. What would it take for them to turn around and leave? Probably only you telling them you're out of their smokes.

    ReplyDelete
  8. America is quickly becoming a nation of self-centered weenies. When we're actually NOT completely absorbed in using our smartphones to update Twitter (because God knows that everyone on the Internet needs to know that we're walking to the train station right now) to actually notice somebody in need of some sort of help, we keep going anyway because *it's not our problem*

    We suck, in other words.

    ReplyDelete
  9. That is absolutely horrible. People might have just not seen him until they were almost on top of him, but my God! Once you see what's going on, turn around and leave unless you know first aid. Then try to help if you can.

    ReplyDelete
  10. That reminds me - I should probably retake my CPR and First Aid classes. Once you take those, you perpetually feel an obligation to use them if you're ever needed. Since the guy was still breathing, he wouldn't have needed CPR, but there was probably something else that could have been done for him while the ambulance was on its way.

    Okay, obviously I wouldn't have been one of those who stepped over him. Even if I didn't know what to do, I might have stayed with him until the ambulance got there. I mean, sheesh. People are screwed up. I can't believe how callous people can be.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Argh, I know how you feel! I used to work in a restaurant that had two booths across from each other with a narrow aisle in between. An elderly gentleman in the booth on the left was clearly looking uncomfortable, as the family in the booth on the right was casually looking over the menu, appearing to be in no rush whatsoever. The friends of the man in the booth on the left proceeded to call 911 when the situation didn't improve, and when the ambulance came, the paramedics took up the entire aisle between the booths trying to get the man out. As this was going on, one of the women from the booth across the way started screaming at me, "UM, CAN WE ORDER NOW?!?!?! WE'RE READY!!! WE HAVE PLACES TO BE, YOU KNOW!!!"
    Ok, let me just ask this man to WAIT to have his heart attack while you order your hamburger.
    People are dumb, but at least it makes for good storytelling...I guess.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I used to work at a subway and one day my co worker had a seizure and while we were doing what we could we turned away customers well some of these people went to the gas station we were connected and complained that we didn't serve them I apologize just let me step over my convulsing friend so I CAN CHOKE YOU TO DEATH WITH A FIVE DOLLAR FOOTLONG

    ReplyDelete

 

Design by Custom Blog Designs using stock image by lemn