I grew up in a Jamaica where cars would stop to allow children and elderly persons to cross the road , where when a man slaps a school girl in her face at a bus stop men came from every where (even jumping out of bus windows) to help her, a Jamaica where you are sure that if somebody tried to break into your house at LEAST one neighbor would see. I can remember all the stand up comedians saying that if TWO Jamaicans were on the plan the 9/11 crash wouldn't have happened . But it is with great sorrow that I am now able to say that Jamaica is no more .
The changes came about for many reasons ; people began to resent the watchful eyes of the old lady next door or find it tiresome to socialize with neighbors . We began to hide in supermarket isles to avoid saying hello to an old classmate and no longer found it necessary to smile with and greet a passing stranger. In some cases it got dangerous to stop and help a 'stranded' person on the roadside and 9 times out of 10 this old man isn't needy its just a scam.
But what we didn't realize is in an effort to protect our privacy and even though we have to think of our safety we were killing our sense of community. We have created a society of detached , "I'm not getting involved" onlookers and for me I'm terrified of living in a society like that.
When did we stop caring about our children to the point where an anonymous phone call that can save a child's life has become tedious? When did we become the people who stand aside and watch a child be murdered? People are getting attacked in public areas and while there are several videos of the incident there is no attempts at helping.
I know we all have a drive to preserve ourselves and the bystander effect is very real but at the same time we have to consider that if it were u being attacked you would want somebody to intervene, you would want somebody to assist your child if they were in danger . And i cant help but think that criminals have become so bold because they know they no longer have to worry about the victim getting help , its as easy as if they did it on a lonely street late at night. We cannot become so consumed with self that we lose our humanity.
We need to look out for each other! Every little effort made to heal our broken sense of community is beneficial. We can start by simply relearning the lost art of giving old people and pregnant ladies a seat on the bus. We can start by being kind $20 will not change your life but you can help somebody get closer to what might be their only meal of the day. I am aware that some situations might be too dangerous for you to physically intervene but at least raise an alarm , call the police ,by all means be safe but be helpful.
And so what if miss Marva knows your business when you can depend on her to start putting out the fire when you accidentally left the iron plugged in.
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