Look don't see
Maybe it's the fact that I'm in a big city, and that living in such close proximity to each other is not natural, so people behave in a way that stops them being overwhelmed. Some call it becoming desensitized. I remember hearing a story once when I was living in London. A friend of mine was waiting on a Underground platform for her train, when she heard a woman begin to scream. She looked around to see a big guy dragging a woman down the platform by her hair, as she kicked and screamed for him to stop. The platform was full of people, but nobody intervened. My friend couldn't believe it, so ran up the platform shouting for help, until some members of staff came running to find out what all the racket was about. The big scary man quickly let go of the woman and scarpered.
What would have happened if my friend hadn't done anything? Would the big scary man just taken the woman away somewhere and do awful things to her? Maybe, but luckily he didn't get the chance.
Anyway, that kind of lack of motivation to get involved in somebody's business is very much a norm here. People don't seem to react very much to anything, mainly because they are being constantly told what to do and not to do. There are countless announcements where ever you go, directing people to do things - on trains, buses, department stores, office building elevators. This has resulted in a city full of sheep, herded this way and that by what I like to call the "all seeing, never seen sheep dog". People don't have to focus very much on what they are doing, because they're told what to do, so they can zone out, go to sleep and read a manga or something. Doesn't it all sound a bit Orwellian? And when somebody steps out of line, it don't half cause a stir. You can almost hear a whisprering of disapproval wash over the whole city if somebody detonates an action that is not what is being told. Scary.
Anyway, you can blame Mr Jospeph Tame for this rant, which got me thinking after I read his jolly good blog LINK
Which reminds me too that Joseph is doing a regularish podcast, and I'm making occasional contributions - stories and interviews mainly - so have a listen if you can: LINK
What would have happened if my friend hadn't done anything? Would the big scary man just taken the woman away somewhere and do awful things to her? Maybe, but luckily he didn't get the chance.
Anyway, that kind of lack of motivation to get involved in somebody's business is very much a norm here. People don't seem to react very much to anything, mainly because they are being constantly told what to do and not to do. There are countless announcements where ever you go, directing people to do things - on trains, buses, department stores, office building elevators. This has resulted in a city full of sheep, herded this way and that by what I like to call the "all seeing, never seen sheep dog". People don't have to focus very much on what they are doing, because they're told what to do, so they can zone out, go to sleep and read a manga or something. Doesn't it all sound a bit Orwellian? And when somebody steps out of line, it don't half cause a stir. You can almost hear a whisprering of disapproval wash over the whole city if somebody detonates an action that is not what is being told. Scary.
Anyway, you can blame Mr Jospeph Tame for this rant, which got me thinking after I read his jolly good blog LINK
Which reminds me too that Joseph is doing a regularish podcast, and I'm making occasional contributions - stories and interviews mainly - so have a listen if you can: LINK
posted by TOK at 5:20 pm
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