Sleeping, stroke or dead?

[smalltownclerk]

I had a customer come in and tell me the following story (if this should be in sightings, or another forum, please forgive me and move it): He entered a restaurant with a couple of friends last night. They see a customer with his head down in his food, not moving. They alert the waitress, who said "I'm afraid to go over and check him. I don't know if he fell asleep or is dead." After they picked their jaws off the ground, they ordered their food and watched the guy. He didn't move. Note that this restaurant does not serve alcohol. Neither my customer nor his friends have cell phones (still no excuse). Just before they left (40 minutes before the restaurant closed), they insisted the waitress inform a manager. The guy had his face in his food for over an hour. So the waitress went to talk to the cook, who was also the manager that night. He replied that he would go check on the customer after he got the grill cleaned . That was the last I heard of the story, but I'm never going to that restaurant. I would have called the cops immediately.

[NecessaryCatharsis]

I've been the one to have to 'poke and see' a few times before. It sucks. A lot. But it is a lot better than the 'ignore the problem and hope it goes away' solution in this particular situation. I can't imagine someone would not try to either wake the person themselves or call for a professional to do it for them. How will that waitress and manager feel if the guy dies of a heart attack, but could have been fine with prompt medical treatment?

[smalltownclerk]

I would have checked on the person, too. Then I would have phoned the cops. I hope the waitress and cook have nightmares for a long, long time.

[smalltownclerk]

I found out tonight from the same customer that the guy had a stroke. If he had been helped, he could have avoided the real tragedy - he is now on life support. He is 53 years old. He has a wife and family.

[Kittykat]

Geez, well that restaurant is going to be looking at a million dollar lawsuit I bet.

[Pixilated]

I certainly hope so! They were appraised of the situation and not only did nothing about it, they made a point of ignoring it. Since they don't even serve liquor they had no excuse whatever to pretend that somebody who is face-down in his food is in any way "okay" or even "nothing serious."

[EvilEmpryss]

Geez, well that restaurant is going to be looking at a million dollar lawsuit I bet.

This was my first thought.

Unfortunately, I believe* that most places do not have a law requiring people to render aid to someone in distress. Good samaritan laws protect people who screw up while helping, but it's hard to prove someone present was criminally (or even civilly) negligent in withholding aid unless they have the professional skill/knowledge to treat a stroke victim (like a doctor or police officer).

I anticipate that the family will still try, and frankly I wish them the best of luck with it. Even the customer who related the story was inhumane in neglecting to check on the guy for over an hour! The worst I can wish on the whole lot of them is that they find themselves in a similar situation only to have no one help them!

*Based on some psych classes I took a couple years ago that touched on things like the bystander effect. This is a perfect example: the more people who do nothing, the harder it is for anyone to do anything.

[Kittykat]

This was my first thought.

Unfortunately, I believe* that most places do not have a law requiring people to render aid to someone in distress. Good samaritan laws protect people who screw up while helping, but it's hard to prove someone present was criminally (or even civilly) negligent in withholding aid unless they have the professional skill/knowledge to treat a stroke victim (like a doctor or police officer).

I anticipate that the family will still try, and frankly I wish them the best of luck with it. Even the customer who related the story was inhumane in neglecting to check on the guy for over an hour! The worst I can wish on the whole lot of them is that they find themselves in a similar situation only to have no one help them!

*Based on some psych classes I took a couple years ago that touched on things like the bystander effect. This is a perfect example: the more people who do nothing, the harder it is for anyone to do anything.

The thing is, they could have simply nudged him gently, tried to get him to wake, and when he didn't called 911.

[Silent-Hunter]

I wonder why the US doesn't have a law requiring someone to call for help?

[EvilEmpryss]

The thing is, they could have simply nudged him gently, tried to get him to wake, and when he didn't called 911.

I absolutely agree with you. As far as I am concerned the people who noticed and did nothing are disgusting examples of humanity.

I wonder why the US doesn't have a law requiring someone to call for help?

Because we're an independent people, and we don't like the government telling us what we can and cannot do. /sarcasm

According to Wiki, it's called a Duty to Rescue and while it can be common law, only ten of the US states have it codified into an actual law -- a different form of the Good Samaritan law -- but even in those states it is very rarely enforced.

It should disgust everyone who hears the story. The implications behind society allowing that kind of uncaring attitude are bone chilling.

[An Haddock]